Masrour Barzani: Kurdistan Region Has No Relations with Israel

ARK News.. The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, said that the Kurdistan Region refuses to become a party to any regional conflict, stressing that its top priority is to protect the region and safeguard its security. He also reaffirmed the Kurdistan Region’s full support for the Iraqi federal government’s efforts to place all weapons under the control of the state’s regular forces.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Masrour Barzani said that no party had pressured the Kurdistan Regional Government to become involved in the war.

“No one has pressured us to get involved in the war. We do not want to be a party to any conflict in the region. All we want is to protect the Kurdistan Region and keep it away from any conflict,” Barzani said.

He added that the Kurdistan Region had come under more than 1,000 attacks in recent times involving missiles and drones.

Barzani said the attacks had been carried out either directly from Iran or from within Iraq by armed militias.

He reaffirmed Erbil’s support for Baghdad’s security measures aimed at bringing uncontrolled weapons under state authority and restricting arms to the security forces and regular military institutions.

Regarding Israel, Barzani stressed that foreign policy is the exclusive responsibility of the Iraqi federal government, denying the existence of any relations between the Kurdistan Region and Israel.

“Foreign policy is exclusively the responsibility of the federal government, and there are no relations between the Kurdistan Region and Israel,” he said.

Regarding the US military presence in the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister said that there have been no American troops at Harir Air Base for the past ten years.

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