ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s consul general to Erbil on Monday said that the Islamic Republic will help Kurdish parties “whenever necessary” to form the next government, stressing that Tehran’s efforts have always been to improve ties with Erbil.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always played its role with the Iraqi government in general and the Kurdistan Region in particular. It played its role whenever necessary, as we care about stability in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and solving their problems,” outgoing consul Nasrallah Rashnoudi told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan Region held its long-overdue parliamentary elections on October 20. The preliminary results were a landslide victory for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which garnered nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Rashnoudi said that during his tenure, he made every effort to develop Tehran’s relations with Erbil, stressing that relations are currently “good.”
"We have been in the Kurdistan Region for more than five years, five years under different circumstances, but all our efforts were to make these relations [between Iran and the Kurdistan Region] friendly and develop them,” Rashnoudi said.
The Kurdistan Region and Iran enjoy good ties. During a forum in Sulaimani in April, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said that Iran contributed to the region's economic "success.”
But that relationship has been strained in recent years by Tehran’s attacks on exiled Kurdish groups and deadly missile strikes on locations that it alleged were Mossad bases in the Region; Erbil has vehemently rejected the claims.
In September, Rashnoudi described Iran’s relations with the Kurds as having always been “strong, solid, and important.”
Bakhtiyar Qadir contributed to this report.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always played its role with the Iraqi government in general and the Kurdistan Region in particular. It played its role whenever necessary, as we care about stability in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and solving their problems,” outgoing consul Nasrallah Rashnoudi told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan Region held its long-overdue parliamentary elections on October 20. The preliminary results were a landslide victory for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which garnered nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Rashnoudi said that during his tenure, he made every effort to develop Tehran’s relations with Erbil, stressing that relations are currently “good.”
"We have been in the Kurdistan Region for more than five years, five years under different circumstances, but all our efforts were to make these relations [between Iran and the Kurdistan Region] friendly and develop them,” Rashnoudi said.
The Kurdistan Region and Iran enjoy good ties. During a forum in Sulaimani in April, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said that Iran contributed to the region's economic "success.”
But that relationship has been strained in recent years by Tehran’s attacks on exiled Kurdish groups and deadly missile strikes on locations that it alleged were Mossad bases in the Region; Erbil has vehemently rejected the claims.
In September, Rashnoudi described Iran’s relations with the Kurds as having always been “strong, solid, and important.”
Bakhtiyar Qadir contributed to this report.
