Kurdistan government rejects Iran’s accusations of arming Kurdish groups

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Monday rejected “baseless speeches” made by an Iranian senior official regarding the arming of Kurdish groups against the Tehran government.

Top Military Aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi stated in a Monday forum that Iran was concerned about the KRG’s divergence from the federal government of Iraq.

He accused the KRG officials, especially President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, for allowing the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Erbil to supply weapons to the Iranian Kurdish rebel groups.

“We warn them in this case, and the Barzanis should know what they owe to Iran,” he said.

Safavi noted that “Iraqi Kurds” are of Aryan origin and have Iranian roots. He warned the KRG officials if they joined the political game against Tehran, Iran might no longer help the Region.

In response to Safavi, the KRG released a statement rejecting his accusations as baseless and reminded these types of claims might distort the historical friendship between Erbil and Tehran.

“We clearly announce that all [Safavi’s] speeches are baseless and not true,” the statement read.

“Therefore, he has no evidence to prove his words. We deny he has any evidence to prove that the Kurdistan Region has made any threat to Iran in any way,” the statement continued.

The report also mentioned it was “unfortunate an official of our neighbor directs such rumors and baseless words toward the Kurdistan Region.”

The Kurdish government reminded there was a joint security commission created between Erbil and Tehran to discuss any topics related to security.

“It is odd to us that nothing regarding this issue has been discussed in the commission,” the KRG statement added.

The KRG called on Iran to put a limit on “speeches and threats because the Kurdistan Region won’t accept such treatments in any way.”

In the report, the government also called on Tehran to discuss any security issues in the joint commission rather than through media.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany