Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani hailed Tehran-Erbil relations as “close and brotherly” and said Iran has a strategy to back the existence of the Kurdistan Regional Government within the framework of the Iraqi constitution, which enshrines the Kurdistan region’s semi-autonomous status under the rule of the government in Baghdad. “We have had and will have a close and brotherly relationship with our Kurdish brothers and the security of the [Kurdistan] region is of high importance to us,” Larijani said in a meeting with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Tehran on Sunday, Tasnim News Agency reported. “We have a strategic relationship with you and want to preserve it,” he said, adding that the ties are valuable and should not be harmed by strategic mistakes. Larijani pointed to the controversial independence referendum held by the KRG in September and said the recent developments in the Iraqi Kurdistan were not in the interest of “the Kurdish brothers” and they should be resolved through prudence. Barzani referred to his recent trip to Baghdad and said he held meetings with the central government officials, which helped opened up ways for dialogue between the KRG and the central government.
