After US-Kurdistan deal, Iran says Baghdad, Erbil must act responsibly
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The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson says Iran will never trust the US because it has pursued its relations in the course of creating tension between countries.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Iraqi Kurdistan region's President Nechirvan Barzani, in Erbil, on March 7, 2023 (AFP)
The US is said to have struck a secret agreement with the Iraqi Kurdistan region to supply it with groundbreaking arms without Baghdad's approval, angering Iraq's central government and raising concerns in Iran, the Tehran Times reported.
A few days ago, the United States House of Representatives presented a bipartisan bill to provide Kurdish Peshmerga, the security arm in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, with air defense systems as the US pushes to create heated zones near the Iranian borders under the pretext of protecting its allies from alleged "threats" from Iran.
It is noteworthy that the Peshmarga are linked with Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), an Iranian Kurdish separatist group that is considered a terrorist group by Tehran and is based in northern Iraq near the Islamic Republic's borders.
Reacting on the matter, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani stressed on Monday that "both the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional authorities should act responsibly and adhere to maintaining the neighborly policy in relations with Iran."
"We have never trusted the US government and we will never trust it because it has pursued its relations to create tension between countries," Kanaani pointed out.
He continued, "The Iraqi government will definitely clarify this issue and the regional authorities should also explain in this regard and we should see what their explanation is in this regard."
Iraqi news website Al-Maalomah cited Iraqi lawmaker Jassem Al-Mousawi as saying that, being inked without the Iraqi government's approval, the deal between the US and the Iraqi Kurdistan region violates international law and diplomatic conventions.
"The [Iraqi] government must intervene to stop this deal by following international diplomatic methods," Al-Mousawi underlined, pointing out that "the decision to arm the Kurdistan region is tantamount to interference in the country's internal affairs."
"We will work to present the file to the higher political authorities in order to come up with a position to reject the agreement between Washington and the [Kurdish] region," the Iraqi lawmaker affirmed.
The recent US decision alarmed Iran owing to Washington's assistance of Iranian Kurdish separatist organizations in Iraq, which Tehran has repeatedly targeted in northern Iraq since September 2022.
Iran and Iraq signed a border security agreement in March, with Baghdad vowing to reign in the activity of these groups on the Iranian border.
However, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said in May that it will continue carrying out operations against separatists in northern Iraq if Baghdad fails to stop the groups, adding that Iran is "waiting for the government of Iraq to honor its commitments."
"Being a refugee with a weapon shows that the groups that are stationed there are not refugees and they have terrorist natures and separatist motives. We expect the Iraqi government and the regional authorities to resolve the concerns and threats," Kanaani made it clear.
Despite the reported deal stipulating that the US would equip the Iraqi Kurdistan region with defensive weaponry, US observers did not rule out the possibility of Washington also providing Erbil with offensive weapons.
Read more: US interested in independent Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq has failed: Bolton
