Erbil Archives - Iran News Daily

Iraqi PM Al-Kadhimi arrives in Tehran

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 11:08:19 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday noon.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Al-Kadhimi is scheduled to hold talks with senior Iranian officials, including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei during his visit to Tehran.

This is Al-Kadhimi’s first international trip after assuming office in April.

The trip follows Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to Baghdad and Erbil on Sunday (July 19).

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Zarif Says Talks in Baghdad Productive

reporter 1222 — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 03:52:38 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif in a tweeted message on July 19 before leaving Baghdad for Erbil, capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the north of the country, said that he had useful talks with senior Iraqi officials.

“Productive talks in Baghdad with PM @MAKadhimi, Pres. @BarhamSalih, Speaker Halbousi, FM @Fuad_Hussein1, and judicial, political, and military leaders. Agenda: Expanding cooperation to benefit our peoples—and the region.

“Next stop: Erbil for meetings with Kurdish leadership.”

Upon his arrival in Erbil on Sunday evening, the Iranian top diplomat was welcomed by Vice President for Kurdistan Region Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa.

Zarif is to hold talks with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani during his visit to the region.

He arrived in Baghdad Sunday morning on a day-long visit heading a high-ranking delegation to exchange views in separate meetings with senior Iraqi officials aiming at strengthening Iran-Iraq relations.

While in Baghdad, Zarif discussed latest regional and international issues with his Iraq counterpart Fuad Hussein, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Head of Fatah Allianceon Hadi al-Amiri, President Barham Salih, Leader of the National Wisdom Movement of Iraq Seyyed Ammar al-Hakim, Head of the Iraqi Judiciary Fayek Zidane and Chairman of the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Falih al-Fayyadh.

Speaking in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Zarif stressed that Iran-Iraq relations will not be “shaken”.

Zarif’s visit to Baghdad was the first since the American assassination of Iran’s Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani outside Baghdad airport in January.

Zarif paid a visit to the site of Soleimani’s assassination outside the Baghdad airport upon his arrival to Iraq’s capital. He said the loss of the Iranian general, who led Iran’s Quds Force, was “a major loss” in the fight against the Daesh terror group, but that “Iran-Iraq relations will not be shaken.”

He added that Iran and Iraq are pursuing the case of the US assassination through legal channels.

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Iran Condemns Terrorist Attack on Turkish Diplomats in Erbil

reporter 1222 — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 07:11:15 +0000

In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi expressed sympathy with the Turkish government, nation, and families of the victims.

“Terrorism is a horrendous phenomenon that has inflicted extensive damages on regional states,” he noted.

Mousavi also stressed that the only way to combat terrorism is concerted action by the international community by putting an end to the political, financial, ideological, and arms support for the terrorist groups.

A Turkish diplomat and two Iraqis were killed on Wednesday in an armed attack on a restaurant in the Kurdish-controlled region of Iraq, according to the Turkish and Iraqi governments.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the death of an official of the Turkish consulate, and said that one Iraqi had been killed and another seriously wounded. The second Iraqi died later.

The two Iraqis worked for the consulate, said Dr. Ahmed al-Sahaf, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman. One was a guard for the Turkish diplomat.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the shooting or why. Iraqi and Turkish authorities said they were investigating the attack, IFP reported.

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Iraqi Kurds Never Forget Iran’s Support, KRG PM Says

reporter 1222 — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 13:48:45 +0000

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani praised Iran’s support for the Iraqi Kurdish people during attacks by the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group and said the Kurds will never forget Tehran’s backing.

Speaking at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital, on Tuesday, Barzani described bilateral relations between Iran and the KRG as very significant and called for closer cooperation in various areas, including economy and trade.

Barzani further pointed to Iran’s support for Kurds during the Daesh terrorists’ invasion of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, saying that the people of Kurdistan will never forget the support.

Zarif, for his part, hailed the ties between Iran and the Republic of Iraq as well as the KRG as “age-old, outstanding, and constructive” and said the trade relations are expanding.

Heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, Zarif arrived in Erbil this morning after visiting the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and meeting with top officials of the Arab country.

Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, led to the collapse of the Daesh.

In November 2017, the self-proclaimed caliphate of Daesh collapsed after Syrian and Iraqi armed forces and their allies managed to recapture the terror group’s last strongholds in the two Arab countries.

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Erbil-Tehran economic ties to see considerable rise in near future

reporter 1222 — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 16:30:26 +0000

Abdullah Akerei, an official representing Iraqi Kurdistan region in Iran, said Mon. that Erbil and Tehran will be witnessing a new phase of economic relations in the near future.

General manager of Kurdistan Region Affairs of Iraq and Iran, Abdullah Akerei, made the remark in an interview with KRG media on Monday, announcing that a delegation headed by the governor of Erbil, Nawzad Hadi, will soon visit the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan to confer on ways to further expand economic cooperation.

A trade conference will also be held in line with the visit of the KRG delegation with participation of the chambers of commerce from Azerbaijan and Erbil, he added.

He went on to note, “following the visit of KRG prime minister to Iran and the unique role of the Islamic Republic in Iraq and the region, the Kurdistan region has focused its strategy on developing economic ties with Iran.”

According to him, the two sides will soon open a series of serious talks by exchanging economic delegations.

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Second Farsi proficiency exam held in Erbil

reporter 1222 — Tue, 22 May 2018 09:40:44 +0000

The second round of Farsi proficiency exam was held in the capital city of Kurdistan Regional Government, Erbil.

The number of participants in this year’s exam doubled, according to Iran’s Consulate General in Erbil.

The exam is held in cooperation with Iraqi Kurdistan Salahaddin University and Iran’s Consulate General in Erbil to meet the demands of increasing number of Iraqi Kurds who want to continue their studies at master or PhD levels at Iranian universities.

Some 41 people participated in this round of the exam held under the auspices of Iranian Ferdowsi University in Mashad.

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Tehran to resume direct flights to Erbil

reporter 1222 — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 07:50:07 +0000

TEHRAN – Iran will soon resume direct flights from Tehran to Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, Iranian consul general in Erbil Morteza Ebadi announced on Tuesday.

Speaking with ISNA, Ebadi said flights will start again on April 27, almost six month after Iraq’s central government imposed an air ban on the region in response to an independence vote in the Kurdistan region.

In September 2017, foreign airlines suspended flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniya. The consul general said talks were under way to resume flight to Sulaimaniya as well.

Iran re-opened a few border crossings with the Iraqi Kurdistan in October and January, which it had closed after the referendum at the request of Baghdad.

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Recent riots in Iran plotted in Erbil: Rezaie

reporter 1222 — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 10:52:53 +0000

Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council and Mohsen Rezaei, , said that the recent riots in Iran were the result of a joint operation of Saddam’s loyalists, MKO members, US, Saudi Arabia, and Barzanis.

“The scenario designed by MKO members, monarchists, and US put into practice in Iran in recent days was plotted months earlier in Erbil of Iraq,” said the Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei.

He made the remarks on Saturday morning during his weekly presser, touching upon the recent days’ riots in some major cities of Iran.

“Some months ago the CIA head of Special Activities Division (SAD), held a meeting in Erbil with the Chief of staff of Saddam’s son Qusay Saddam Hussein, Saddam’s brother-in-law, Barzanis’ representative, MKO representatives, and Saudi Arabian agents,” recounted the Iranian official and former IRGC commander-in-chief.

“In this meeting, the date and time for the operation was defined,” he added, “it was agreed to start in late December, using the cyber space, and to follow the scenario of toppling the establishment in January and February, with operation codenamed as ‘the Strategy of Resultive Convergence’,” recounted Mr. Rezaei.

“They imagined they could usurp the control of all cities from the appointed officials to get to the second phase and import weapons into Iran to kill some civilians and then in the next phase US would table new anti-Iran sanctions in the UNSC through human rights committee to ease the way for entrance of MKO members,” he said.

“Two or three years ago that Saudi security officials attended the MKO convention in Paris they plotted the scenario,” asserted the Iranian official.

“All those who had been punished in the last 40 years by the Islamic Revolution played role in recent riots,” he added.

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