On the last day of the 3-day visit of the Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi to Iraq, he sat down for a meeting with the special representative of the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), during which the Iranian judiciary chief described the relations between the Kurds and the Islamic Republic of Iran as “deep and deep-rooted relationship based on a common culture and history and a completely civilized relationship.”
Raisi reminded the envoy of Iran’s help to the KRG during the ISIL assault on the Kurdistan region, saying that maintaining the security, comfort, and tranquility of Iraqi Kurdistan is of special importance to the Islamic Republic.
He further described the US presence in the region as detrimental to the security and peace of the people of the region.
“We consider the United States neither an advocate of Kurdish people, nor an advocate of people of Iraq and Iran, and nor an advocate of the people of the region,” Raisi said, adding that “The American presence in the region is only for securing their own interests as they have officially stated before, and the Americans cannot be trusted at all.”
Elsewhere in remarks, Raisi had two pieces of advice for the authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, first of which was related to the extradition of fugitive criminals to Iran.
He also advised the Kurdish authorities to preserve the rich Kurdish culture and immunizing their society against the invading Western culture.
The Kurdish representative Hoshiar Zebari, who was the former Iraqi foreign minister, expressed his gratitude to Iran on behalf of Masoud Barzani for their support in the fight against ISIL.
Zebari added that the Kurdistan region's authorities have had a friendly relationship with the Iranian authorities, noting that Iran has played a positive role in their cooperation with Shia political factions in Baghdad.
He described Ayatollah Raisi as a law expert and said that “Iraq, like Iran, has a constitution and the solution to all disputes between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad is to return to the implementation of the principles of this law, which has shown all solutions."
The Special Envoy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also announced his readiness to implement the law on extradition of criminals between the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Iran and said "We are fully prepared to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran to return criminals and corrupt individuals to Iran."
KI/Tasnim2450939