Masoud Barzani disputes film's claims of Iran's role in fight against ISIS

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani this week highlighted the role played by Peshmerga forces and the Kurdish people in general for the territorial defeat of the Islamic State, contrary to what he characterized as misrepresentations put forth in a new film that overstates the role of Iran in the fight.

"The war against ISIS is being discussed in several media circles and there is a fact that should not be hidden; that ISIS is the enemy of all humanity and the war against ISIS is not an easy war because it has a broad and multi-sided front," said the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in a statement.

Barzani acknowledged that "no one party can defeat or uproot ISIS. It needs coordination and joint action by all sides and the international community."

"At the time of the ISIS war, we thanked the coalition and the Americans who helped Kurdistan Peshmerga forces," he continued, "and we thanked those that participated in some way in the war against ISIS and helped the Peshmerga forces."

"Nevertheless, everyone should know that the one who defended Kurdistan from the threat of ISIS on the ground with blood and sacrifices was the Peshmerga forces." 

The remarks come after a recently produced film in Iran about which critics say blatantly overstates the role played by Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in the war against the Islamic State.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) handed the Iranian Consulate General in Erbil a not of protest against the film, which it said intentionally distorts the facts.

In particular, the narrative it uses claims that Soleimani singularly repelled the advance of the Islamic State into the Kurdistan Region, thus ignoring the role of the Peshmerga forces and causing widespread anger among residents of the autonomous federal region of Iraq. 

While readily confirming that Iran offered a helping hand to the Kurdistan Region during the confrontation with Islamic State fighters, he was sharply critical of what he said was a clear distortion of the facts.

Editing by John J. Catherine