Iran supports removing hindrances to Baghdad-Erbil talks and will help the dialogue succeed, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Supreme National Security Council, said in a meeting with the visiting Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani.
The unified Iraq will witness a bright future due to its victory over the terrorist group of Daesh (ISIS) and the complete liberation of the country, Shamkhani said adding the Iraqi people could successfully foil the foreign plots to disintegrate their country.
Pointing to the Tehran-Erbil historical relations, Shamkhani said despite the enemies' plots, grounds are prepared for strategic cooperation between the two sides.
He criticized the use of Iraqi Kurdistan by anti-revolutionary groups to assassinate the Iranian citizens and soldiers and claim victory for their crimes, the official said adding that such moves are not acceptable to Tehran.
Also commenting on the September 25 referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan which cost economically and politically the Kurdistan people and neighboring states a lot, Shamkhani said some thought that security of the Kurdish people is apart from that of the Iraqi citizens and the region.
They mistakenly thought that Daesh and terrorism threats will be managed only through dialogue, Shamkhani added.
Despite opposition by the Iraqi Federal Government and regional states, as well as international warnings, the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum was held on September 25 in some northern Iraqi provinces, including Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and some disputed regions like Kirkuk.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on October 17 'The referendum is now over... I now call for dialogue under the umbrella of the Iraqi Constitution.'
Referring to the measures taken by certain regional and extra-regional states to weaken Iraq and the big countries in West Asia, Shamkhani urged the regional nations to be vigilant in order not to let the national interests of themselves and the World of Islam be jeopardized.
Barzani is in Tehran to hold talks with top Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhani and Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani.
Talks with Shamkhani were the first of Barzani's meetings which will focus on bilateral questions and reopening of the western Iranian borders.
