“Pursuing the issue of holding a referendum for partition and creating division in the Iraqi nation … is not consistent with any of the priorities and real needs of the (Iraqi) people and is at odds with the prudence and policy of Iraqi officials,” Shamkhani said Monday in a meeting in Tehran with Abdulla Rasul Ali, the first deputy for the Secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

“While this issue (independence referendum) may appear attractive, in actual fact it would lead to isolation and pressure on Iraqi Kurds and weaken Kurdistan and, ultimately, the entire Iraq,” he added.

Stressing that some regional and trans-regional countries seek to undermine Iraq and other major countries in West Asia, Shamkhani said such “colonialist schemes” should not be allowed to materialize.

“What the Islamic Republic of Iran wishes for the people, parties and groups in northern Iraq is security, economic development and welfare, whose realization would be a major barrier to the growth and activity of terrorist groups,” he went on to say.

/SR