‘KRG Reaffirms Commitment to Agreements with Baghdad’ KRG Official
“The salary issue is used as a political card by Baghdad against Kurdistan Region’s public sector employees,” Dizayee stated.

Jan 16, 2025
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Safeen Dizayee, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) on Thursday reaffirmed that the KRG has fulfilled all its commitments towards the federal government of Baghdad.
“The KRG is often accused of not biding by Baghdad – Erbil agreements, therefore today (Thursday) the KRG delegation gave a comprehensive explanation to the representatives of the diplomatic missions in the Kurdistan Region, reaffirming KRG’s continued readiness to hold talks with Baghdad over the pending issues between Erbil and Baghdad,” Dizayee told a press conference.
“The salary issue is used as a political card by Baghdad against Kurdistan Region’s public sector employees,” Dizayee stated. He added that earlier the Iraqi federal court has decided not to politicize this issue but the federal government didn’t abide by the court’s decision.
“The diplomatic envoys were given more details about the previous ambiguity, so they wanted to hear the answers from the Kurdistan Regional Government itself, to help bring Erbil and Baghdad together and find an appropriate solution.” Said Dizayee.
Safin Dzeyi, emphasized that “the salaried employees of the Kurdistan Region, are part of the Iraqi citizens, so the federal government should fully implement its responsibilities toward them, the way the KRG has being fulfilling its responsibilities toward Baghdad.”
Regarding the resumption of Kurdistan Region oil export, Dizayee, stated that “oil export has been halted for 22 months; however, the efforts for resuming export is continuing.” He further explained that “in the consequence of halting Kurdistan oil export Turkey lost less than $2B, while Kurdistan lost more than $22B.
Dizayee revealed that EU countries and the United States are making efforts to solve the pending issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and that they have told Baghdad that these issues should be solved soon. He added that in this context, a top US official was in contact with the KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani last week.
Read More: ‘Good measures are taken to resume Kurdistan oil export’ Kurdistan Presidency Spokesman
Dizayee’s remarks comes following a round table meeting on Thursday between the KRG delegation assigned for Baghdad negotiations and the diplomatic missions’ representatives in Kurdistan Region, including U.S. Consulate Erbil’s representative.
The KRG delegation included Dizayee himself, Dr. Omed Sabah, Diwan (Office) Chairman at the KRG Council of Ministers, Awat Janab Noori, KRG Minister of Finance and Economy, Kamal Mohammed, Acting Minister of the KRG Natural Resources Ministery, and the KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani.
"We are ready to hand over the domestic revenue to Baghdad and we have said this in the past, but on condition that the entire budget of the Kurdistan Region is sent, not just salaries,” said Hawramani, following the round table meeting.
Hawramani emphasized that “the KRG is ready to sell oil through the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), but who slowed down the process of oil exports and caused more than $ 25 billion in losses to the Iraqi treasury? Of course, there have been no violations on the part of the KRG, but on the part of the Iraqi government, even if the federal Prime Minister intended to resolve the issue, if we speak frankly, there have been other forces and parties hindering the efforts to solve it.”
Hawramani stated, "The KRG is prepared to sell oil through the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO). However, who is responsible for the slowdown in the oil export process that resulted in over $25 B in losses to the Iraqi treasury? Clearly, there have been no violations from the KRG's side. Despite the federal Prime Minister's intentions to resolve the issue, frankly speaking, other forces and parties have obstructed the resolution efforts."
"The starvation and the treatment of the people of the Kurdistan Region by the Iraqi government has no excuse," Hawramani said.
"They have presented all the necessary statistics on the violations of the agreements between Erbil and Baghdad to the foreign diplomatic missions’ representatives," he concluded.
The ongoing disputes between the KRG and the federal government of Iraq continue to shape diplomatic and economic conversations, especially concerning the implementation of agreements related to budget allocations and oil exports. Tensions have been particularly evident over the distribution of salaries to public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region, which the KRG argues has been politicized by Baghdad.
These issues were at the forefront during Thursday’s round table meeting where KRG officials provided detailed clarifications to representatives of diplomatic missions in the Kurdistan Region. The meeting aimed to reaffirm the KRG's readiness to engage with Baghdad to resolve these persistent issues and to demonstrate the KRG's compliance with prior agreements, countering accusations of non-compliance.
This dialogue occurs against a backdrop of significant financial losses attributed to halted oil exports, highlighting the economic stakes involved and the broader geopolitical interest from international actors like the EU and the United States in fostering a resolution.