TEHRAN – Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani said on Monday that holding a referendum on the Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence would lead to the isolation of the Kurdish people of that country.

Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with a high-ranking delegation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Tehran.

Pointing to the referendum as a plan orchestrated by colonizing powers, the senior official said it would eventually hurt the national interests of the Kurds and other Iraqi civilians.

MH/PA