Iraq’s Kurdish region wants to stay out of regional conflicts: PM Barzani

In an interrogation with Al Jazeera, Masrour Barzani denies immoderate ‘pressure’ to participate the Iran warfare contempt implicit 1,000 attacks.

Masrour Barzani, the premier curate of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) successful bluish Iraq, says the semi-autonomous Kurdish portion does not privation to go progressive successful the ongoing regional conflict sparked by the United States and Israel’s warfare connected Iran, adding that it supports Baghdad’s efforts to bring weapons nether authorities control.

“No enactment has pressured america to get progressive successful the warfare and we bash not privation to beryllium a enactment to immoderate struggle successful the region,” Barzani told Al Jazeera successful an exclusive interrogation connected Saturday.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3IRGC strikes US targets successful Kuwait a time aft US hits Iran: Latest events
• list 2 of 3Iranian Kurdish parties successful Iraq look a delicate equilibrium amid Iran attacks
• list 3 of 3Iran warns against ‘flames of war’ amid US onslaught threats connected vigor sites

The premier curate said the region’s infrastructure has been severely damaged by much than 1,000 rocket and drone attacks since the warfare began connected February 28, either straight from Iran oregon from wrong Iraq via militias.

Barzani called the attacks “unjustified”, saying that “any contented indispensable beryllium resolved peacefully” done dialogue.

In March, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted the al-Harir Air Base adjacent the determination superior of Erbil with 5 missiles, describing the installation arsenic “the office of the invading US army”.

Barzani said the basal was bare arsenic it has not hosted US troops for astir 10 years, since US-led conjugation forces defeated ISIL (ISIS) and dismantled its territorial foothold. He added that US troops remained successful Erbil to “fight terrorism” and that their beingness had repeatedly travel nether attack.

Barzani besides said the KRG supports the Iraqi authorities successful restricting arms to authoritative forces only.

In a code earlier parliament successful May, Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali a-Zaidi promised that the authorities volition person a monopoly connected arms successful a state wherever paramilitary groups person been almighty since the 2003 US-led warfare connected Iraq. The authorities has acceptable a September 30 deadline for each equipped factions to disarm and surrender their weapons to authorities control.

Additionally, Barzani told Al Jazeera that determination authorities support nary relations with Israel, portion ties with Syria and Turkiye were deepening, marked by “mutual cooperation”.

KRG President Nechirvan Barzani this week met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa successful the first sojourn to Syria by an Iraqi Kurdish person since the autumn of Bashar al-Assad successful December 2024.

Iranian Kurdish absorption parties person been connected precocious alert since the opening of the US-Israeli warfare connected Iran. Their bases successful the semi-autonomous Kurdish portion of Iraq – and wrong Iran itself – person been thrust onto the beforehand lines of the conflict, with the anticipation of Iranian Kurdish fighters entering the struggle to topple the Iranian authorities being wide discussed.

Both US President Donald Trump and Israel have suggested that arming these fighters could extremity the equilibrium of powerfulness wrong Iran, wherever Kurds marque up astir 10 percent of the population.