MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Exclusive: PUK Official Refutes Existence of Iranian Ballistic Missiles in Sulaimaniya / KURDISTAN IRAQ
BasNews 04/09/2018 – 15:10 – Kurdistan – ERBIL – There are several rumors that Iran has moved ballistic missiles to the neighboring country of Iraq, attempting to use them in future possible attacks on Israel, even claiming that some of the missiles have been sent to the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniya where the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is dominant.
Reuters, citing “three Iranian officials, two Iraqi intelligence sources, and two western intelligence sources, claim that Tehran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to allies in Iraq over the last few months.However, speaking to BasNews, Jalal Sheikh Karim, deputy minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Ministry, who was appointed by the PUK, strongly refuted any possibilities of the existence of Iranian ballistic missiles in Sulaimaniya.
“Such allegations are only baseless and there is no truth in them,” Sheikh Karim said. “It is not possible for Iran to have military units in another country. Here is Kurdistan Region and it has nothing to do with such things unless Iran takes over [the region] and builds up its military bases.”
Raparin Customs Director Jawhar Rasul, in the meantime, told BasNews that the Islamic Republic has crossed the Iraqi borders and it has started to establish a number of military bases which are located in the Kurdistan Region’s territories. www.mesop.de