Iraqi Kurds say border with Iran reopened
DUBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan said Iran had reopened its border crossings with the semi-autonomous region after closing them last month to protest the arrest of an Iranian man by U.S. forces.
The U.S. military said in September it had detained an Iranian man it accused of smuggling roadside bombs into Iraq and training foreign fighters.
"We made efforts with the Iranians and sent a delegation to convince them that the issue ... is beyond our control. The issue is under American control," Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Al Jazeera.
"After long negotiations between us and them, the border crossings were opened," he said in comments aired on Sunday that were dubbed into Arabic.
The Iranian, who U.S. forces said was a member of the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was arrested in a U.S. raid on a hotel in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya. Iranian and Iraqi officials said the man was a member of a trade delegation.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran were already high over the arrest by U.S. forces of five Iranians in the Kurdish city of Arbil earlier this year. Iran says they are diplomats but Washington says they supported militants operating in Iraq.
"There was no excuse for the detention of the Iranian man by the Americans, especially since he was invited by the province of Sulaimanya," Barzani said.
The United States accuses Iran of training and equipping Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq and supplying roadside bombs, which are by far the biggest killers of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Iran denies the charge and blames Iraq's sectarian violence, in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, on the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Barzani also said his government was doing its best to stop Kurdish rebels of the PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in Iran and shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces, from using its territory as a springboard for attacks on the Islamic Republic.
"Our principle as the government of the Kurdish province and the government of Iraq, we are agreed ... that the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan or Iraq should not be used for any attacks on neighbouring countries, whether Iran or Turkey or any other country," he said.
"We are agreed on this principle and we will make efforts to prevent our territory from being used for any assault on Iran."
The U.S. military said in September it had detained an Iranian man it accused of smuggling roadside bombs into Iraq and training foreign fighters.
"We made efforts with the Iranians and sent a delegation to convince them that the issue ... is beyond our control. The issue is under American control," Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Al Jazeera.
"After long negotiations between us and them, the border crossings were opened," he said in comments aired on Sunday that were dubbed into Arabic.
The Iranian, who U.S. forces said was a member of the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was arrested in a U.S. raid on a hotel in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya. Iranian and Iraqi officials said the man was a member of a trade delegation.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran were already high over the arrest by U.S. forces of five Iranians in the Kurdish city of Arbil earlier this year. Iran says they are diplomats but Washington says they supported militants operating in Iraq.
"There was no excuse for the detention of the Iranian man by the Americans, especially since he was invited by the province of Sulaimanya," Barzani said.
The United States accuses Iran of training and equipping Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq and supplying roadside bombs, which are by far the biggest killers of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Iran denies the charge and blames Iraq's sectarian violence, in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, on the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Barzani also said his government was doing its best to stop Kurdish rebels of the PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in Iran and shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces, from using its territory as a springboard for attacks on the Islamic Republic.
"Our principle as the government of the Kurdish province and the government of Iraq, we are agreed ... that the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan or Iraq should not be used for any attacks on neighbouring countries, whether Iran or Turkey or any other country," he said.
"We are agreed on this principle and we will make efforts to prevent our territory from being used for any assault on Iran."
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