Iraqi Kurdistan

Ali Akbar Velayati, an international advisor to Iran's Leader, has dismissed allegations of the Islamic Republic’s involvement in the Iraqi army’s operation to retake the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces.

The Iraqi central government forces have retaken the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk on Monday in an operation launched on Sunday in response to Kurdistan’s independence referendum.

Iraqi premier has reportedly appointed an Arab politician as the new acting governor of Kirkuk, which is the scene of conflict between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmarga since the beginning of the central government’s operation to retake the oil-rich city.

Iraqi forces have taken full control of the largest airbase of Kirkuk, known as K1, after recapturing vast areas of the city from Kurds in an operation started on Sunday night.

Iraqi central government in Baghdad has set a deadline for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to leave and hand over the areas which had been under the control of the army before the ISIS attack.

Baghdad’s ban on the arrival and departure of foreign flights at/from Kurdistan airports has reportedly caused a loss of 50 to 60 thousand dollars a day.

The eldest son of late former Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, has praised an Iranian medical team for their efforts to offer good services to his father during treatment period.

An Iranian analyst says Tehran and Ankara cannot pursue a totally similar policy towards the issue of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iran needs to adopt its own independent policy in this regard.

An Iraqi Vice President, after meeting with the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, has announced that he is ready to ignore the referendum results in return for the lifting of sanctions against Erbil.

A Kurdish Iranian parliamentarian says Tehran would be the best place for talks between the Iraqi government and authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

An Iranian website has, in a critical article, lashed out at certain commentators who believe the secession of the Iraqi Kurdistan region is a logical move.

The covering of the coffin of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani with Iraqi Kurdistan’s flag has sparked harsh criticism particularly in Baghdad with many of the Iraqi lawmakers saying the coffin should have been covered with Iraqi flag.

In an official note to Tehran and Ankara, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the two countries to stop their trade deals with the Kurdistan region amid the KRG’s secessionism.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has laid a wreath to commemorate late former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.

Iranian foreign minister will visit the Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday to take part in the funeral ceremony of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.

A senior political commentator believes there will be no reason for Iranian Kurds to go for secession if their rights are respected and their demands met.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again emphasized that Ankara only recognizes Iraq’s central government, stressing that the Iraqi Kurdistan’s secessionism will bring the KRG nothing but isolation.

The dispute between Iraqi Kurdistan’s two main political parties has heightened following the recent meeting of the region’s Political Council headed by President of Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has condoled with Iraq over the death of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, describing him as a distinguished man who spent his life on protecting the Arab country’s integrity.

Jalal Talabani, the first non-Arab president of Iraq and the founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has passed away at the age of 83.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani slammed the independence referendum recently held in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, saying the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) adopted an “irresponsible and amateurish approach”.

Western countries in recent days have adopted double-standard policies on two similar secession plebiscites held in two parts of the world one week apart.

Kurdish security forces known as Asayesh and Peshmerga fighters have deported scores of Arab and Turkmen families from Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk following last week’s referendum on secession.

The internal division in Iraqi Kurdistan region has entered a new phase with the resignation of the Kurdistan parliament’s secretary.

An Iraqi Kurdish lawmaker says the referendum on the Kurdistan region’s independence has led to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan losing Iran’s friendship.