The Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al Sadeq, stirred controversy over comments he made about the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Kurdistan region in northern Iraq is an autonomous region with its own governing authority. Iran has carried out attacks on the region in the past, claiming to target “Mossad” and also targeting Kurdish dissidents. The Iranian ambassador made new comments about the presence of Kurdish dissidents in northern Iraq, and he claimed, “We have documents that show that the Israelis have used the territory of the region against Iran.”
His comments were reported by several media, including the Farsi language website ABS News and the Arabic media site Mideast News. In one report of his comments, he said, “Our information says that Mossad is present in Erbil, saying: When we bombed Erbil, we were defending ourselves because the Kurdish opposition and the Israelis were using the region’s lands to target us.”
The Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government slammed the comments, according to a post their office put on social media. “In a television interview, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq made baseless accusations against Kurdistan Region and once again linked the bombing of civilians in Erbil to defending themselves against Israel. We strongly reject all the baseless accusations, lies, and slander that have been made against Kurdistan in the past.”
The context of the Iranian ambassador’s comments is wider than just slander against the Kurdistan region and threats to Israel. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to Iraq on his first foreign visit this month. The Iranian ambassador is supposed to be paving the way for that to happen. Iran is focused on signing new agreements with Iraq. Some of these are related to security. Iran wants to make sure that Kurdish dissidents, some of whom are based in the Kurdistan region, will be removed from border areas and will be reduced in their influence in general.
“Iraq is an important country in the region, and it is of interest from the perspective of Pezeshkian's foreign policy, as [the Iranian president] announced that his foreign policy is based on the importance of neighboring countries," Sadeq told Rudaw, a Kurdish media network.
Iran's threats
Iran has threatened to use military force against Kurdish dissident groups in northern Iraq. There are a number of groups that Iran is at war with that have a presence in Iran and Iraq. These include the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Komala and others.
Iran has also carried out ballistic missile attacks targeting Erbil, claiming to target the dissidents and also claiming to target what it alleges is an Israeli presence in Erbil. The attacks have resulted in the deaths of civilians, and there is no evidence Iran has presented that its claims are accurate. “Iran has long accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of harboring opposition groups it considers threats to its national security and allowing them to use the border areas as a launchpad for attacks. The Kurdistan Region has categorically rejected Tehran's accusations.
One of the opposition groups, Komala Party, said in a statement on Friday that they have not been provided with a copy of the Iran-Iraq security deal but that they oppose the forced evacuation of their bases, which the party claims only contain civilians” Rudaw noted in its report. According to the Rudaw report, Kurdish authorities in Sulaimani province, which borders Iran, have asked Komala members to vacate their bases in the area.
The Iranian ambassador said, “We told the Iraqi brothers that we are defending ourselves. The Kurdish separatist opponents used the Iraqi territory, penetrated deep into Iran, and launched attacks against Iran's vital interests and terrorist attacks on Iranian soil. We talked in different ways, and when we did not get an appropriate response, we had to act in this way.” This appears to indicate Iran is continuing to threaten the Kurdistan region with more attacks.
He also made further claims. “We presented evidence that the Mossad is in the region, and they say that it is not, but our documents show that they are in the region. The Mossad mercenaries are working for its benefit, we warned about this. A group of Kurdish dissidents was assigned by Israel and trained in Kenya and returned to carry out operations.” He presented no evidence of this outlandish claim.
The Iranian ambassador was also quoted discussing the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July in Tehran. He said “our guest was killed in our home and we will avenge him.” The ambassador gave an interview to Al-Rasheed TV in Iraq in which he made this comment. He referenced Iran’s “Operation True Promise,” the attack on Israel in April in which Iran used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. “The next operation will use force, and God willing, the Iranian response will be decisive.
The diplomat also said that he hoped to see unity in Iraq between Shi’ites, Sunnis, and Kurds, who are the main groups in Iraq’s parliament.
Iraq was run by Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab, until his fall in 2003. Since then, the Shi’ite community has generally had a larger role in the country. Sunni communities were decimated during the insurgency and rise of ISIS, because ISIS found support in many Sunni cities.
The Kurdistan region has autonomy but has been divided in recent years. This is, in part, due to Iran’s machinations in the region and also the role of Turkey, which has bases in northern Iraq. This has led to many challenges for Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. The US has forces in Erbil and also uses the region as a key lynchpin with US forces in eastern Syria. As such the Kurdistan region is a crossroads of many regional powers and also is threatened due to its strategic role.