No Israel spy in N Iraq, KRG fire back to Iran

KABUL

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) fired back on May 12 over allegations by Iranian diplomats and officials that the administration was playing host to Israeli intelligence.

Kurdish authorities described the claims, made in previous weeks, as “untrue,” after Iran’s consul in regional capital Arbil said Israeli spies were using the region as a base to work against neighboring Iran.
“This is not the first time that Iranian officials are saying this without presenting evidence or reasons,” the KRG said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse. “The government is not able to be quiet faced with these accusations anymore, so we confirm to the public there are no centers or offices of Israel in Kurdistan, and we deny this accusation.” The statement continued: “It is untrue.” “This is an attempt to draw Kurdistan into the fight between Israel and Iran, and we do not want to be part of this,” it said.

On May 5, Tehran’s consul in Arbil, Azim Hosseini, said Iran’s security agencies had found evidence that “Israelis are in Kurdistan, and they are working against Iran.” “Israelis are working under different passports and names and banners,” he told Safil, a Kurdish weekly published in Arbil. And on April 21, Iranian MP Esmaeel Kosari said that the administration and Azerbaijan “should know that the presence of the Zionist regime on their soil will be harmful to them.” “The neighboring nations should not allow this regime to have any activities against Iran.”