Kurdish parties call for calm as regional tensions grow after Soleimani killing

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Senior members of leading political parties in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday urged for calm as regional tensions grow following the US killing of Qasim Soleimani, an Iranian general who was in charge of Iran’s extraterritorial operations.

Representatives of multiple Kurdish parties, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), attended ceremonies organized in honor of Soleimani at the Iranian consular offices in Sulaimani and Erbil.

Early on Friday, an American drone killed Soleimani, the former chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Tehran-aligned Kata’ib Hizbollah (KH) militia in Iraq.

Read More: US strike kills Qasim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis 

The US operation came following several attacks on bases hosting anti-ISIS coalition troops, with one in late December killing an American contractor. Washington has accused KH, and Iran by proxy, of being behind the attacks.

On New Year’s Eve, the militias and their supporters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad and burned parts of it. Days earlier, American aircraft struck five KH bases near the Syrian-Iraqi border, killing upward to 25 fighters.

The attacks and retaliations have fueled speculation of the possibility of an all-out war between the two international foes.

Related Article: Iranian diplomat in Erbil echoes vows of 'revenge' for Soleimani killing

“We hope that Iraq will not turn into an arena for settling regional and international disputes,” Fazil Mirani, the Secretary-General of the KDP Politburo, told reporters on the sidelines of a funeral ceremony for Soleimani in Erbil.

He asserted that Iraq is unable to bear the consequences of a potential conflict, saying that the Iraqi government must do all it can to calm the situation. Mirani also offered his condolences to Soleimani’s family and said the KDP had sent them an official letter.

“The killing of Qasim Soleimani is leading Iraq toward disturbing conditions,” senior PUK member Adnan Mufti told reporters at the event. He called on all parties to “exercise self-restraint” and to strive to “calm the situation.”

He also offered the PUK’s condolences to the family of the Iranian general.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany