MESOP FULL TEXT : Iranian Deputy FM for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian (FNA):

MESOP REPORT : BY WLADIMIR VAN WILGENBURG ( CLICK FOR PICS)

Iranian Deputy FM for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian (FNA):

“Speaking about Iraq’s disintegration is a Zionist plot and we won’t forget that in recent days the only official who supported the independence of the Iraqi Kurdistan region much happily and excitedly and persuaded this region to disintegration was (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

Things changed when in August 2014, when the IS attacked the KRG, accusing the Kurds of working with the Savafid government of Baghdad. A conservative website gave credit to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force Cmdr. Qasem Suleimani for bringing the Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), and improving relations between the Kurds and the Shiite central government in August 2014. Most likely the recent visit has to do with the tensions between Shiite militias and the Kurds in the provinces of Diyala and Kirkuk. But this is speculation from my part, since I haven’t talked with any Kurdish official about this meeting. It could also be related to the relations between Baghdad and the Kurds, or future operations against the IS (Mosul?). In my latest visit to Kirkuk and Daquq, Shiite flags could been seen everywhere. Although both PKK and Peshmergas (PUK) deny involvement of Shiite militias in the fight against the Islamic state in Kirkuk. I think, in the end problems between Iranian-backed Shiite militias and the Kurds could be solved though, due to the good relations between the PUK and Iran. There might be more tensions (arrests, shooting incidents, etc), but it will not be the same as the fight between the IS and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. More similar to previous tensions between Iraqi forces and the Kurds in disputed territories. https://medium.com/@vvanwilgenburg/unlikely-iranian-warning-to-kurds-d1b70c13e6d3