Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Masrour Barzani held talks in Baghdad on Sunday with new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on pending issues between Baghdad and Erbil. Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji said: “There is great understanding between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region on the need to resolve disputes and pending issues to ensure the interests of all Iraqi citizens.” Speaking at a joint press conference with Barzani, he revealed that a senior joint security delegation from Baghdad and Erbil will soon visit Tehran. The delegation will represent Baghdad in the Iraqi-Iranian High Security Committee that was previously announced, he added. The committee will meet to address the attacks that have targeted Kurdistan and Iraq during the recent military conflict in the region, he went on to say. It will also tackle other issues of common interest. For his part, Barzani said that Araji stressed his rejection of the attacks on Kurdistan and the whole of Iraq. Araji did not disclose the date of the delegation’s visit. Iraqi observers in Baghdad said the development marks a shift in the new Iraqi government’s stance towards the attacks that were likely launched by pro-Iran Iraqi armed factions, which have targeted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, or by Iran against Erbil and other Kurdish regions. Spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces Sabah al-Numan had recently revealed that al-Zaidi had formed a committee that includes security agencies to probe the attacks against Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The committee will visit Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to further investigate the attacks. An informed security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the official authorities and security agencies “are fully aware of the movements of the armed factions and the attacks they have carried out and their motivations for doing so.” “The countries that have been targeted continue to have positive stances and they strongly support the peace negotiations,” it added. It noted that the attacks “are an embarrassment to the new Iraqi government, which has nevertheless expressed a determination to resolve the issue” and cooperate with the concerned countries. This marks a shift in Baghdad’s stance towards the possession of weapons outside the authority of the state, explained the source.
