Al-Monitor- Iranian media�and officials have expressed support for the Iraqi forces� operation to recapture Kirkuk, but deny that Iran�s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) played any role in it.


Announcing Tehran�s support for the Iraqi government�s operation against peshmerga forces in Kirkuk, Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy adviser to Iran�s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated Oct. 17, �Iran plays no role�in the Kirkuk operation, and the majority of the Kurdish people of Iraq are against the ambitious actions of [Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud]�Barzani. � We saw that�the area was ceded to the government in Baghdad, and Mr. Barzani should accept his mistake and ��admit [to this ceding].�

Moreover, Iran�s former ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, wrote in the�government-run Iran�daily�Oct. 17, �The reality is that Baghdad is determined to preserve its territorial integrity, and as long as Iraqi Kurdistan isn�t willing to suspend the�results of the referendum, Erbil-Baghdad talks won�t take place�and Iraq will be forced to continue its current approach. However,�there are currently whispers about opposition to Barzani�s decision, especially regarding the increase of [the number of] peshmerga forces in Kirkuk.�

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