Khamenei: Americans Should Not Dare to Speak About the Division of Iraq

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, said during a meeting with the President of Iraq: "The atmosphere should not be such that the Americans dare to openly talk about the division of Iraq." The official website of Mr. Khamenei reported that in the meeting on Tuesday, December 3, he stated, "The people of Iraq, including Shia, Sunni, Kurds, and Arabs, have lived together without any problems for centuries, but unfortunately, some countries in the region and foreigners are trying to exaggerate the differences." Mr. Khamenei emphasized that "we must stand against this and avoid any excuse that could lead to the emergence of differences." These remarks come at a time when Shia and Kurdish Iraqis, along with Sunnis, form the three main ethnic-religious groups in the country, and during Saddam Hussein's regime, they were subjected to widespread and bloody repression, resulting in the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands of them. In recent months, following the capture of large areas of Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State group, some U.S. officials predicted that these two countries would never regain their territorial integrity. For instance, Vincent Stewart, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, stated in September that Kurds would likely not return to the central Iraqi government and that Syria would be divided into two or three parts. However, Mr. Stewart emphasized that such an issue is "not the goal of the U.S." John Brennan, the head of the CIA, also mentioned on the same day that Syrians and Iraqis identify themselves more by their ethnic and religious identities than by their nationality. Mr. Brennan added, "I think the Middle East will change in a way that it has not in the next one or two decades." The spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry rejected these statements and predictions. The leader of the Islamic Republic also said during the meeting with the Iraqi President: "Why should a country like Iraq, which is large, wealthy, and has a thousand-year history, be divided into smaller regions, always exposed to conflict and disputes?" These remarks come at a time when Iraq, which has been established for 95 years, has a tumultuous history of ethnic conflicts and internal strife since its formation. Mr. Khamenei further emphasized to the "Iraqi officials": "Americans should not be allowed to consider Iraq as their personal property and to express any opinion and take any action they wish." Previously, the head of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council also accused the U.S. of seeking to divide countries in the region. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stated that "the U.S. Congress has had a plan for years to divide the region into smaller countries to achieve its goals." Meanwhile, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic (IRNA) reported, citing the spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, that there is "no discussion about the division of Iraq" in the U.S. Congress.