RNA – Speaking at a session on the issue of the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan at the Haqqani Seminary in Qom, Hujjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zonnour, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, argued that the Middle East is a cradle of different ethnic groups and “therefore, there are many conflicts in this area.”
The representative of the people of Qom in the Islamic Consultative Assembly added, “Another point is that there is a lot of wealth in this region and in order to obtain this wealth, the imperialist powers must create for discord between nations and religions. Today, the United States is designing and implementing a new strategy called the ‘War of Civilizations. The only way to implement it is for the United States and the imperialist powers to emphasize ethnic and religious differences, such as directing movements under the direction of their mercenaries in order to carry out their goals in the region. Daesh and the Takfiri movements were created as part of this plan.”
The United States activates political and religious faults
He said that the United States is using every opportunity to change the tranquility and geopolitical region of the region and added, “The Shi’ah, Sunni, Arab and non-Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish and other groups are faults which have active capacities. The United States identifies and activates the political and religious faults which befit its interests.”
Hujjat al-Islam Zonnour added, “The great powers overwhelmingly deal directly and indirectly with these faults, one of which is the Kurdish fault. Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria have common Kurdish regions. Which are located side by side – western Iran, southern Turkey, eastern Syria and northern Iraq. Also, in Iran, the closer to the border of the country, we find a greater concentration of Kurds and in regard to the existent religious issues, there are greater sensitivities.”
His Eminence emphasized, “Although, in this matter, one point in favour of the Islamic Republic is that the Kurdish people are originally an Iranian people and, therefore, they have a greater affection and attachment to Iran. Also, in the past the severity of the Kurdish disagreements with central governments has been less severe with Iran than with it has been with other countries.”
The discussion of creating a ‘Greater Kurdistan’ is a thing of the past
Hujjat al-Islam Zonnour stated that the discussion of the creation of a ‘Greater Kurdistan’ and its autonomy was discussed in the distant past and noted, “Some have always tried to activate this fault in Iran but this was not possible due to the Islamic Revolution. For this reason, the imperialist powers have been disappointed with our country and there also no opportunities in Turkey, there are no means in Syria due to the civil war, so they want to focus on Iraq.”
A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly said, “The issue of Kurdistan’s independence is important for three reasons, first, Kurdistan is a region that will certainly not benefit any of the four countries and will only benefit the imperialist powers. Iraq’s losses would be greater than three other countries and even to the detriment of the Kurds themselves.”
He that the second reason is the internal situation of Turkey, arguing, “Since the private sector of Turkey has invested $50 billion in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and about $15 billion has been invested by the Turkish government, the Kurds felt that with this interaction, Turkey will not be opposed to their autonomy, and this issue has tempted the leaders of this region.”
Hujjat al-Islam Zonnour said, “The third factor is the situation that exists in the Kurdish leadership in Iraq because in this country the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, under the leadership of Jalal Talabani, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, represented by Masoud Barzani were present. Talabani was more realistic and the mediation of the Islamic Republic of was also a factor in the issues of Iraqi Kurdistan. Barzani takes more of his line from outside the region and acts tactically with Iran and in fact, he is a timely, self-seeking and unpredictable man.”
He noted that with Talabani’s illness and his departure from politics, Barzani didn’t see a rival in front of him and noted, “Kurdish political parties are also pleased with the independence debate but they believed that there wasn’t any possibility for the establishment of a Kurdish state but Barzani has entered into this issue.”
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