The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s government has arrived in Tehran to hold talks with Iranian officials about reported terrorist moves in the Kurdistan region.
“Nechirvan [Idris] Barzani has traveled to Tehran to offer explanations about some existing ambiguities regarding measures taken by certain terrorist groups in Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday.
He added that Iran has deep-rooted relations with Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the Iranian people and the Kurds have always maintained constructive cooperation.
The Iranian official also called on the Iraqi Kurds to help the central government counter extremist forces.
On June 10, the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of the city of Mosul in Nineveh Province, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.
According to Geneva-based International Organization for Migration, the seizure of Mosul forced “over 500,000 people in and around” the city to flee.
Clashes continue between Iraqi soldiers and the ISIL militants, who have vowed to march toward the capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on June 10 that his country was involved in a “war against terrorism,” stressing that Baghdad “will never permit Mosul and Nineveh to remain under the shadow of terror and the terrorists.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the acts carried out by the militants, calling on the international community to support the Iraqi government’s fight against jihadist militants.
