Iran and Barzani: Worsening Relations and The Risk of an Inevitable Clash?

The relations between Iran and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) have recently experienced a considerable amount of tension. Iranian officials have given Masud Barzani, the president of KRG, stern warnings that they would not tolerate any act which they view as a threat to their national security. In this analysis, it is argued that this escalation on the part of Iran is an important component of Iran’s desire to accomplish a complete control on all Iraqi groups and to recruit Kurdish groups for its hegemonic and expansionist policies in the Middle East. Iran has also a major security concern regarding the region which results in a higher tendency to penetrate the KRG affairs politically, economically, and militarily. The goal of such policies is to prevent the KRG region from being used by its major adversaries, namely Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel, and the US and to gain a secure foothold in the KRG region that has a 400- mile border with Iran.