ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Head of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s foreign relations department Falah Mustafa dismissed on Monday new Iranian accusations that the KRG allegedly supplied Iran's Kurdish groups with military equipment in collaboration with Saudi Arabia.
Rejecting the claims, Mustafa told Rudaw that the KRG was committed to marinating good relations with neighboring countries based on "mutual interests".
"We categorically reject these statements. We ask for careful considerations before issuing [such] statements," Mustafa said, referring to Monday's remarks by a top Iranian official accusing Saudi Arabia of arming Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic Republic through Erbil.
Yahiya Rahim Safavi, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, warned of "arming anti-revolutionaries" in Kurdistan Region, a reference that Tehran uses to describe opposition groups fighting the Islamic Republic.
Safavi made these remarks while addressing the Meeting of the Islamic Worlds Geopolitical Challenges in Tehran on Monday.
He also accused Erbil of maintaining relations with Israel and expressed concern for deteriorating ties between the KRG and Baghdad.
"We are also concerned that the Kurdistan Region is distancing itself from the central government in Iraq, as they have a pact with the Zionists," he added.
The KRG has long denied having any ties with the Jewish state, although expression of condolences for the late Israeli leader Shimon Peres by the Kurds in August and commemorating the Holocaust in Erbil made headlines earlier this year.
KRG’s foreign relations head said that Erbil was committed to preserving mutual interests and promoting good relations with the neighboring nations, adding that Erbil could not tolerate any threat to Kurdistan Region’s stability.
Safavi praised the "historical bond between Kurds and Iranians,” and said that the KRG should not take Iran’s support for granted.
"They must know that if they enter such political games and distance themselves from the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, then it shouldn't be taken for granted that Iran remains supportive," he warned.
KRG spokesperson Safeen Dizayee also rejected the claims of Erbil arming Iranian opposition groups through third parties and described them as “baseless information.
Dizayee said Erbil and Tehran had a joint security commission and that Safavi’s concerns could be discussed by this commission.
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