KRG seeks to deepen ties with Iran

LONDON - Reuters

Iraqi Kurdistan plans to strengthen its relationship with Iran, the prime minister of the semi-autonomous region said yesterday in an acknowledgement of the deepening ties between Arbil and Tehran.

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement a new oil deal between Arbil and Baghdad would not impact the Kurdistan Regional Government’s ties with Turkey, or its growing partnership with Iran.

“We will continue to strengthen our relationship with our eastern neighbor Iran,” Barzani said in a statement read at a Kurdish oil and gas conference in London. The statement was read by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former UK ambassador to the United Nations, after Barzani was unable to attend.

The KRG will export 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil by the end of the first quarter of 2015 and will be a net contributor to Iraq’s budget by the end of next year, minister for natural resources Ashti Hawrami said at the conference.

Kurdistan’s minister for natural resources Ashti Hawrami told a conference in London that despite a fresh deal, Arbil had yet to agree on other issues including the right to export oil independently and a revenue sharing mechanism.

“The KRG will play its full role in helping Iraq to meet its energy export targets,” Hawrami said.