Iraqi Kurdistan’s Planned Secession Vote “Illegal”

Iran’s security chief described as unlawful the planned voting on the secession of Iraq’s Kurdistan and warned it would lead to far-reaching security consequences for the region, particularly the Kurdistan region itself. Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani made the statement in an interview with the Tehran-based Arabic daily Al Wefaq on Tuesday. “The problems of the Iraqi people would not be solved by ethnic and sect-based separation and such measures can even add to problems by weakening Iraq geopolitically and [undermining] its solidarity, and leave an opening for trans-regional powers and [facilitate] their political and economic hegemony over the region,” he said. The Kurdistan Region’s political parties, excluding Gorran Movement and Kurdistan Islamic Group, came to an agreement on June 7 to hold a referendum on the region’s independence from Baghdad on September 25. The decision has faced heavy criticism from four neighbors of the landlocked region, namely Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.  Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu cautioned that the move “could even bring Iraq to civil war”.