Regional Sunni Divide Reaching Crisis Point in Iraq

In an interview with Tasnim, as translated by IFP, Nazim Dabbagh, the representative of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iran, said that he is concerned about sectarian violence in Iraq’s Sunni population, which is caused by the lack of a single Sunni religious authority to control the situation.

Referring to the repercussions of the absence of such religious authority in Iraq, he added, “Today, Iraq is a federalist country which must move towards a democracy where everyone have their own share of power in accordance with their political and economic weight.”

However, he added, following the Battle of Mosul, certain groups are acting in such a way to drive a wedge between other ethnic and religious groups in the country.

“As a result, there is fear that clashes may break out between Shiites and Sunnis; Shiites and Shiites; Sunnis and Sunnis; Turkmens, Shiites and Sunnis; Christians and Yazidis and other Christians; Kurds and Sunnis and Shiites; and even Kurds and Kurds,” he said.

“For the time being, the absence of a single Sunni religious authority to have the final say is felt in Iraq pretty tangibly.”

“All this is caused by the dissenting Arab and Sunni countries in the region; Turkey says something, then, Saudi Arabia says something else; Qatar says another thing; then, the UAE says something; there it goes to Egypt which says something totally different from all others; no one agrees with others. In the meanwhile, the Kurds are not united either; had we not been divergent inside, we would have never had our rights violated.”