Shamkhani Warns About Kurdistan Referendum: Closure of All Border Crossings with Iran

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council threatened that the separation of the Kurdistan region from Iraq would mean the "end" of all military and security agreements between the two sides and also the "closure of all border crossings" between Iran and this region. Ali Shamkhani stated on Sunday, September 17, in an interview with the IRIB news agency that the referendum for the separation of the Kurdistan region from Iraq "lacks legal legitimacy" and "will certainly have security repercussions for the region, Iraq, especially the Kurdistan region." He emphasized that Iran's border agreements "are only valid with the central government of Iraq" and that the separation of the Kurdistan region would "mean the closure of all joint border crossings." In recent days, senior officials of the Islamic Republic have opposed the referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. For instance, on Thursday, September 14, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and the Chief of Staff of the Turkish Army described the consequences of holding the independence referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as "negative and dangerous" and called for coordination among neighboring countries against what they termed "separatist plans." Earlier, the President of Iran had implicitly opposed the referendum in a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Meanwhile, Kurdish sources in northern Iraq claimed last week that Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, visited Erbil to meet with Massoud Barzani in an attempt to change the referendum's intention, but the position of the Kurdistan region has not changed. Officials of the Islamic Republic have not reacted to this visit. In addition to the Iraqi government and parliament, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and the United States have also called for the cancellation of this referendum. However, Israel has supported this referendum, which is scheduled to be held on September 25 (October 3). Meanwhile, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council stated that the opposition of Iraq's neighboring countries to holding this referendum would create "complex and difficult conditions" for the Kurdistan region. Mr. Shamkhani also threatened that the separation of the Kurdistan region from Iraq "would mean the end" of all military and security agreements between Iran and this region. He announced that after the separation of the Kurdistan region from Iraq, Iran would "seriously reconsider its approach to countering the presence and activities" of anti-Islamic Republic groups in this region and would behave in "completely different ways" than in the past. In recent years, Iran has bombarded areas of the Kurdistan region of Iraq under the pretext of the presence of anti-Islamic Republic forces and their operations. Despite repeated protests from the government of this region, the bombardment by Iran has not stopped. On July 3, news sources in the Kurdistan region of Iraq reported that Iranian military forces bombarded areas of this region, injuring three people. After that, the autonomous government of the Kurdistan region of Iraq summoned the Iranian consul general in Erbil and protested against the bombardment of these areas.