“Commanders of Iranian Armed Forces took part in a meeting chaired by Army chief Maj. Gen. Bagheri this morning in line with implementing the announced policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran toward respecting the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and following the request of Iraq’s central government for cooperating with Iran for establishing the sovereignty of the central government on shared border terminals,” Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said Saturday.
He went on to add, “during the meeting, the necessary decisions were taken for providing border security and admitting Iraqi forces on border terminals while reconfirming the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and the unlawfulness of the Kurdish region’s independence referendum.”
“It was decided that Iranian Armed Forces together with a number of units from Iraqi army stage a joint drill in upcoming days on border regions of Ghasr-e Shirin, Parvis-Khan border point, Bashmagh boder in Marivan, and Tamarchin border in Iranshahr, all in western part of the country,” he added.
On Monday, Iraq’s Kurdistan held a referendum on independence despite widespread calls for its cancellation. According to Kurdish officials, over 90 percent of the voters said ‘Yes’ to separation from Iraq. The move has been severely criticized by the United Nations, the US, and all major regional and international parties, except for Israeli regime.
Iran has closed its airspace to Iraqi Kurdistan region upon the request of Iraq's central government.
Following the referendum, Turkey and Iraq launched a joint military exercise on the Turkish-Iraqi border in Silopi district of Sirnak province. Turkey had started its military maneuvers in southeastern Silopi region on Sept. 18, a week ahead of the referendum.
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