Iran has warned the officials in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk against their ‘wrong, provocative, and unacceptable’ decision to back the Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence referendum.

In a statement on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum has been rejected by the Iraqi central government, the United Nations, and many regional and ultra-regional countries.

The decision made by the Council of Kirkuk Province to back and vote in such plebiscite is a dangerous and provocative move, he added.

Ghasemi further noted that Kirkuk’s support for the referendum will not only fail to help the recent talks held in Baghdad to settle the differences between the two sides, but will also influence Iraq’s national power and capacities toward stabilizing the country’s victories over terrorism.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran warns against the wrong decision, which clearly violates Iraq’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he noted.

“We once again emphasize that the best option for the Iraqi nation is the commitment of all parties to the Constitution and the settlement of differences through dialogue and legal solutions,” Ghasemi stressed.

“Any move that would create fresh crises in the region and the borders of Iraq’s neighbors is intolerable,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Kirkuk’s authorities voted in favor of the province’s participation in the independence vote, a move described by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi as a “mistake”.

Source: Mehr News Agency