Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan announce cooperation amid CIA plot rumours

The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region and the Iranian foreign minister pledged “cooperation” in a phone call on March 4, according to a readout from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The call comes a day after CNN reported that the CIA is aiming to foment rebellion in Iran by arming Iranian Kurds and sending them over the border from Iraqi Kurdistan.

During their call, Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi agreed to work toward “preventing any third parties from exploiting the situation to destabilize the region.”

A readout of the call from Barzani’s office likewise said the region “will not be part of the conflicts.”

Also on March 4, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported that Araghchi held a call with Bafel Talabani, party leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, wherein the Iranian foreign minister emphasized security cooperation in the face of “terrorist movements” on the Iran-Iraq border.

The flurry of calls also included one between Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani and Araghchi. Al-Sudani told the foreign minister that Iraq would not allow an attack on Iran from its territory, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Meghan Bodette, research director at the Kurdish Peace Institute, told CNN that Iraqi Kurdish leaders wouldn’t want to risk provoking Iran.

“Iraqi Kurdistan will aim to protect its own interests first, even if its leaders and people are sympathetic to the struggle of Kurds in Iran,” she said.

While Iraqi Kurds have previously offered support to Kurdish forces in Syria, Bodette said offering support to Iranian Kurds would be far riskier.

“Iran sees this war as existential,” Bodette said. “It is able and willing to threaten civilians, destroy infrastructure and devastate the economy in (Iraqi Kurdistan) if the region is seen as supportive of Iranian Kurdish aspirations. No such threat existed when (Iraqi Kurdistan) offered support for Syrian Kurds in January.”