ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President Masoud Barzani on Monday called on Baghdad and Erbil to begin talks to resolve lingering disputes, warning that growing regional tensions and internal political divisions could deepen Iraq’s crises if left unaddressed.
In a message released early Monday by the Barzani Headquarters, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) urged "the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] to convene in order to resolve the issues and problems, to reach an agreement, and to prevent those opportunistic individuals who intend to further deepen these crises and problems.”
He underlined that “at a time when there is significant war and tension in our region, Iraq is under the threat of various crises, and political differences between the parties have intensified.”
President Barzani’s call comes as disputes have intensified between Baghdad and the KRG in recent days over a request by Iraq to export oil via the Kurdistan Region's pipeline to Turkey, as well as longstanding financial issues and recent security concerns in the Kurdistan Region.
The KRG’s natural resources ministry on Sunday accused Iraq’s federal oil ministry of distorting facts regarding the issue of exporting oil through the Region’s pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, insisting that Baghdad is maintaining a “suffocating embargo” on the Region and has not moved to “confront” attacks by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq on Kurdistan’s energy infrastructure.
Baghdad earlier said it requested to export up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline if Erbil allowed federal authorities to use the route, in addition to roughly 200,000 barrels produced in the Region.
The dispute comes as oil exports from the Kurdistan Region have largely halted due to repeated drone and missile attacks targeting energy infrastructure. The strikes have been blamed on pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq, which say the attacks are linked to Tehran’s confrontation with Washington and Tel Aviv.
The KRG also accused Baghdad of maintaining what it described as a “suffocating embargo” on the Region by restricting access to US dollars through a new customs system and failing to take effective measures to stop attacks on Kurdish energy facilities.
Since the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, Tehran and its proxies in Iraq have carried out over 300 drone and missile attacks on alleged US targets and energy facilities in the Kurdistan Region, resulting in casualties and injuries.
Kurdish leaders have warned they will no longer tolerate the ongoing attacks and have called on Baghdad to take steps to stop them.
The KRG statement further noted that “Baghdad is not prepared to confront these terrorist attacks against the Kurdistan Region or to prevent them,” adding that “to date, no effective measures have been taken to stop these assaults.”
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment