Iran’s Leader urges Iraq to exercise greater sovereignty on Kurdish region

ran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Imam Khamenei, has urged Iraq to exercise greater sovereignty over the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, warning that the security of the neighboring nations is intertwined.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani and his accompanying delegation in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on Tuesday evening.

The Leader then pointed to earlier statements by senior Iraqi officials that the Baghdad government will not allow the Arab country’s soil to be used as a staging ground to launch attacks on neighboring states in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.

“Unfortunately, this menace is cropping up in some areas of Iraq. The only solution is for the central Iraqi government to exercise greater sovereignty over those areas,” he said.

The Leader noted that Iran believes that the security of neighboring Iraq is equivalent to the Islamic Republic’s own security, emphasizing that Tehran will confront any party intending to disrupt the security of the Arab nation.

Ayatollah Khamenei also congratulated Sudani on his election, and wished him success in elevating Iraq's standing to a level worthy of the Arab country’s civilization and history.

He stated that Iraq’s progress and its higher position at the global stage is in the best interests of Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei described Iraq as the best Arab country in the West Asia region in terms of natural and human resources as well as cultural, historical and civilization background.

“In spite of such a background, Iraq has not yet been able to attain its high and true position,” he said, stressing the need for cohesion and unity among various Iraqi political groups plus maximum utilization of the young Iraqi generation in order to achieve the desirable goal.

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