Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Quds commander Qassem Soleimani have spoiled an American-Israeli plot to create a second Israel in the Kurdistan region, Mohamadi Gulpaigani, the chief of staff of Iran’s Supreme Leader, said on Tuesday.
Kurdish officials have repeatedly said that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards played a key role in the week-long military incursion into Kurdish-controlled territories in Kirkuk. Kurdish officials say about 600 civilians were killed during the Iraqi advances, while the peshmerga reported losing 30 soldiers in Kirkuk and Pirde.
Kurdistan does not have direct diplomatic relations with Israel, but the two enjoy relations that go back decades. Israel was the only country that publicly supported the Kurdish independence referendum.
(Rudaw-Kurdistan/Matzav.com)
