TEHRAN - Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday that independence referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was a “strategic mistake”.

In an interview with IRNA, he called on the Kurdish officials to boycott the referendum and provide a stable and secure atmosphere.

Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region held independence referendum on September 25. Kurdistan’s President Masoud Barzani turned a cold shoulder to international calls against the referendum.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that it is “essential” for the Kurdistan region to enter dialogue with the central government in Baghdad.

On September 26, a number of top ranking Iranian political and military figures voiced strong opposition to the independence referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, calling it an Israeli plot and warned about its consequences.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to the Supreme Leader, said “political chaos” in the Middle East would be one of the consequences of the referendum.

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that Iran “will not accept” the partition of regional countries including Iraq and said Tehran will stand beside the Iraqi central government.

Defense Minister Amir Hatami also said Iran is against any move to disintegrate regional countries and change their geographical borders.

NA