Kurdish leader Barzani: Iraq the main one to suffer if drawn into regional war
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, the Kurdishleader and President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani,stated that Iraq would be the main party harmed if dragged into a regional war,following recent Israeli threats against the country.
In an interview with Sky NewsArabia, the Kurdish leader said, "ISIS remains a serious threat, and thewithdrawal of Coalition Forces poses a problem unless the Iraqi Army andPeshmerga are properly equipped."
Barzani described the KurdistanRegion's relationship with Baghdad as “good,” noting that some issues,particularly the Region's share of oil, are still under discussion.
Regarding the recent Iraqiparliamentary elections, he said, "The Sunnis have not yet adapted to thechanges after Saddam's fall and rejected the proposals made to them." Headded, "Shiite forces asked me to mediate with the Sunnis for a consensuson a single candidate for Speaker, but they couldn't agree."
On relations with neighboringcountries, Barzani emphasized, "It is not in our interest to have tensionswith Iran or Turkiye, and our relations with both are normal." Heconfirmed, "We never sought to escalate tensions with either country, butwe will not allow interference in our affairs."
"The Iranian opposition in theKurdistan Region does not interfere and follows instructions, whereas theKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) interferes and ignores them,” he added.
