TEHRAN – Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to the Supreme Leader, said on Monday that the Kurdish forces’ defeat in Kirkuk foiled a dangerous plot hatched by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani against the region.

Velayati made the remarks after Iraqi government forces took control of the governorate building in the central part of Kirkuk.

Barzani’s objective was seizing Kirkuk’s oil wells in favor of Israel, he said, adding that if the plot was not foiled, Israel and Iran would have become neighbors.

MH/PA