"We would call upon both parties right now, Mr. Abadi, Mr. Barzani, to come together and have those conversations about coordinating military activities and trying to restore calm,” said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert at a press conference on Thursday of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish President Masoud Barzani.
The Kurdistan Region stated it was willing to enter into negotiations within the framework of the constitution, freeze the referendum outcome, and halt military operations.
"We believe that the time is now. We would like to see them commit to a timetable for sitting down and having talks,” said Nauert.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejected the Kurdish offer, and instead called on the Kurdistan Region to annul the results of the Kurdish vote.
"They are all Iraqis -- Iraqi Kurds and Iraqis from the federal government, if you will,” said Nauert of the Kurds who have enjoyed various forms of autonomy since 1992.
US combat forces left Iraq in 2011. ISIS rose in 2013 and the Americans returned as advisers, giving billions of dollars in military aid to Iraq.
"We are close friends... good friends with the Iraqi government. We are good friends with the Kurds. I'll once again say that our men and women have fought and died alongside both,” said Nauert.
Clashes between Iraqi forces joined by Iranian-backed paramilitary forces and Kurdish Peshmerga forces broke out on October 15 in disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.
"It is a shame to see the Iraqi Kurds and Iraqis fighting … fighting one another," said Nauert, noting how hard they fought together against ISIS. "They have been successful in that. That is why we cautioned against the referendum... because we knew both of these groups of individuals would be taking their eye off the true fight.”
She was asked about reports of Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis being a Hashd al-Shaabi commander and opening a recruiting center in Kirkuk, one of the disputed areas. Mohandis is designated a “terrorist” by the United States for his membership in Hezbollah, targeting of Coalition and Iraqi forces in 2009, and ties to Quds commander Qassem Soleimani.
"I saw that report earlier,” said Nauert. “You are correct, he is a terrorist. I cannot confirm that report, but if that report is correct, we hope his recruitment efforts fail miserably.”
The military actions this month in the oil-rich and diverse disputed areas came after the Kurdistan Region held a non-binding vote to allow people to express their desire for independence from Iraq on September 25.
The Kurdistan Region hosted more than 1.8 million Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees in the three-year war against ISIS.
Nauert announced Vice President Mike Pence's plan to provide direct USAID funding to religious NGOs operating in Iraq and Syria, thus bypassing the UN.
She specifically acknowledged funding for “Christians and Yezidis in Iraq.”
When asked about the Kurdistan Region's open arms for Iraq's minority groups, Nauert said the United States “honors” that choice.
"Without the Kurds the families would not have been able to come,” she added. “We will never forget what the Kurds have done.”
