MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Iranian media reported that Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri expressed opposition to the Kurdish independence referendum slated for September in the talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, saying that the vote would destabilize Iraq as well as neighboring countries.
"We announce to everyone that talking about the rights of the people of Kurdistan is not the duty of [Bagheri] and this will be considered as a blatant intervention in the internal affairs of Kurdistan," the ministry said in a statement, as quoted by the Rudaw news agency.
The ministry added that holding the referendum was "a natural and just right of the people of Kurdistan and no one other than the people of Kurdistan has the right to talk about it."
In June, Masoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan, set September 25 as the date for an independence referendum. The move provoked harsh criticism from Baghdad claiming that the referendum would violate the country's constitution.
In response to Barzani's announcement, Iranian authorities have expressed support for maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity. Turkey, also having a large Kurdish minority, has also expressed opposition to the Kurdish independence.