Iran blocks border crossings with Iraq s Kurdish region

Baghdad Oct 15 (IANS) The Iranian authorities on Sunday blocked its border crossing points with the region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq in response to controversial independence referendum held by the region last month the media reported.

"Iran has closed its border crossings with the Kurdistan region since this morning " said the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) a major Kurdish party in which the Iraqi President Fuad Masoum is a leading figure Xinhua reported.

The Iranian authorities blocked the crossings of Pervez Khan Bashmakh and Haji Omran the website quoted Sirwan Mohammed head of the Kurdistan s regional Commerce Chamber in Sulaimaniyah province as saying.

"The Kurdish authorities do not yet know why these crossings have been closed " Mohammed said.

Earlier Baghdad adopted punitive measures that included suspension of international flights to the Kurdish region and blocked all the border crossings outside the control of the federal authorities and urged Turkey and Iran to help it implement its measures.

The independence of Kurdistan is opposed not only by the Iraqi central government but also by most other countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and undermine the fight against Islamic State militants.

Iraq s neighbouring countries especially Turkey Iran and Syria fear the Iraqi Kurdish independence move would threaten their territorial integrity as large population of Kurds live in those countries.

The US has repeatedly warned the Kurds to postpone the referendum saying such move could derail or confuse the war against the IS.

--IANS
ahm/mr