Iraqi Commander: Kurdistan’s Separation Project Failed Already
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The commander of Iraq’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, an offshoot of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), deplored recent moves by the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hold an independence referendum as part of “an already failed project” developed by Israel.
“The secession of Iraq’s Kurdistan from the country is in fact a plot hatched by the Zionists,” Sheikh Qais al-Khazali said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.
“Kurds have always sought separation and independence but (President of Kurdistan Regional Government) Masoud Barzani is seeking to serve his personal interests,” he said.
He added that today, Barzani’s interests are in line with the Israeli regime’s attempts to “create a cancerous tumor” in the region.
Al-Khazali went on to say that for that reason, only the Tel Aviv regime supported the independence referendum held by the KRG.
“In my opinion, the project of the separation of Kurdistan from Iraq has already failed,” he stressed.
The Iraqi Kurdistan Region went ahead with its plan to hold the referendum on September 25 although Iraq’s neighbors and countries in the Middle East, including Iran and Turkey, had voiced opposition to such a move and supported the Baghdad central government.
Thousands of Kurdish people in favor of KRG’s secession from Iraq took to the streets in Erbil that night, with some waving Israeli flags to celebrate.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the only leader in the region to endorse the referendum, while all neighbors have warned that the secession plan would bring instability to the region and disintegrate Iraq.
