ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The lack of dialogue between Erbil and Tehran is a major factor for existing issues between the two, an Iranian media pundit and reformist told Rudaw, adding that Tehran does not look upon the Kurdistan Region favorably.
"Instead of the relations between Erbil and Tehran improving in the past years, they have become more distant," Sadegh Zibakalam, an Iranian media pundit and reformist, told Rudaw's Fuad Rahim last month, blaming Tehran's suspicions of Erbil harboring Israeli intelligence for the deterioration of ties. Kurdish authorities have vehemently denied such claims.
Zibakalam believes that the problems between the Kurdistan Region and Iran stem from a far more fundamental issue – one of Kurdish independence.
"For whatever reason, Turkey and Iran are not very happy with the Kurdistan Region, because that part of Iraq is under Kurdish rule and they have their own government, which is not something viewed favorably by Iran," he said, explaining that the existence of the Kurdistan Region could serve as a model for Kurds living in western Iran (Rojhelat) to seek their own independence.
The media pundit also claims that the Kurdistan Region has been largely unsuccessful in terms of having diplomatic relations with Iran, as he believes that a large number of Iranians should be present in the Kurdistan Region, such as university professors.
When asked about the increase in rocket and drone attacks conducted by Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militias towards the Kurdistan Region, Zibakalam said that the attacks are not a show of strength by the Iranian side.
Fingers have largely been pointed at Iran-backed militias for rocket and drone attacks in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, with airports and US bases among the primary targets.
Under the pretext of striking an Israeli base, Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles targeting areas surrounding the US consulate building in Erbil in the early hours of March 13, injuring two civilians and causing severe material damage to houses. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for targeting "the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile," an accusation vehemently rejected by Kurdish authorities.
In May, the IRGC bombed a mountainous area in Erbil's Sidakan subdistrict, inflicting no casualties or material damages, an IRGC-affiliated media reported that the bases of "terrorist groups" in Erbil were targeted.
Several armed Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), have bases in the Kurdistan Region's mountains, and Iran often targets the bordering areas as a result.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has previously called on armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups to not use the Region's territory as a launchpad for attacks against neighboring countries.
On the topic of Iranian influence in Iraq, Zibakalam believes that Tehran's grasp over Baghdad is declining, attributing the decline to the "new generation of Shiites in Iraq" that do not see Iran as a Shiite ally.
"Iran has made a big mistake by establishing relations only with a Shiite group that they support, leaving out a larger number of Shiites who support Muqtada al-Sadr and Ayatollah [Ali] al-Sistani," he said.
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