Iran has voiced dissatisfaction with the decision by of Iraq’s Kirkuk provisional council to vote in the Kurdish independence referendum, calling it “dangerous and provocative”, Tasnim News Agency reported on August 30.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi stated on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic deems “intolerable” any sort of measure that causes “new crises in the region and in the borders of Iraq’s neighbors”.
According to Mr. Qassemi commitment to the constitution and resolving the differences through negotiation and legal ways is “the best option before the Iraqi nation”.
The spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the decision by Kirkuk’s provisional council as a “clear violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq”.
Qassemi warned about the consequences of such a move. He insisted that such a decision “would undermine Baghdad’s national power against terrorism”.
Turkey, another neighbor of Iraq, has also strongly opposed the Kurdish independence referendum.
During a recent meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan US Defense Secretary James Mattis, they reaffirmed their opposition to the vote.
The Kurdish regional government in northern is planning its independence referendum next month.