Alwaght-Iran has expressed opposition to the hoisting of Kurdish flags over government buildings in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk saying the measure escalates tensions.
In a Monday statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi has said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s principled position is to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq and to emphasize the commitment of all parties to the country's constitution and to resolving differences through dialogue and legal solutions.”
He pointed out that Iran considers the raising any flag other than the Iraqi flag in Kirkuk, which is governed by the federal government according to the Iraqi constitution, to be a move that escalates tensions and is contrary to the country's constitution.
The senior Iranian diplomat further expressed concern that the move in Kirkuk can waste the energy of the Iraqi government and undermine the Arab country’s ongoing anti-terrorism campaign.
Iraq’s lawmakers on Saturday passed a bill to prohibit the hoisting of the flag of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in Kirkuk days after the Kirkuk Provincial Council decided to raise the regional flag next to the Iraqi national flag in front of some buildings.
On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned that the potential separation of the country’s Kurds would harm them. "That is totally objectionable. We are serious about Iraq’s territorial integrity,” Abadi said in an interview with the Iraqi Kurdistan region's Rudaw media outlet. The remarks by Abadi come after Muhammed Haji Mahmud, Secretary General of Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party said that independence referendum in Kurdistan Region will be held this year with the US supporting the move.
Mahmud added that Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani is insisting on organizing an independence referendum in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), headed by senior cleric Ammar al-Hakim, says the hoisting of Kurdish flags over government buildings in Kirkuk is threatening national unity.
INA issued a statement on Monday after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi presided over a meeting to examine the fallout from a provincial council decision to raise Kurdish flags in the oil-rich city.
