As votes were counted in Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday in the region’s independence referendum, Iran’s top officials and commanders railed against a “US-Zionist plot”.

The Iranian regime has bitterly opposed Monday’s referendum, declaring that it will fuel regional conflict by weakening Iraq and accusing the Iraqi Kurdish leadership of carrying out the sinister wishes of Washington and Israel.

Of the almost 3.5 million votes counted so far, close to 92% support independence — a result likely to unsettle not only Iran but also the central Iraqi government and Turkey. Even the US, which has been allied with Kurds in the Syrian conflict, and the UN have publicly opposed the ballot.

The Supreme Leader’s top advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati, said Tuesday that Masoud Barzani, the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, “is a middleman for Zionists to disintegrate Islamic countries”.

Velayati insisted that Islamic countries will not allow “a second Israel” to be created in the region.

With failure to check the referendum, the Supreme Leader’s aide turned to the option of regime change, declaring that the Kurdish people will oust Barzani and “remove this stain of disgrace from the Muslim world”: “Unfortunately, Barzani has been linked with the Zionists since a long time ago and has not learnt his lessons from Palestine.”

Defying the return of more than 90% Yes, Velayati insisted that the result cannot be verified and “true turnout figures are not clear”.

On the eve of the vote, Iran closed airspace and land borders for movement to and from Iraqi Kurdistan, but Velayati did not detail any specific steps in his Tuesday statement.

Defense Minister Amir Hatami added to the rhetorical challenge yesterday, showing solidarity with Ankara in a meeting with the Turkish ambassador to Tehran and asserting, “The Islamic Republic of Iran opposes any move, which will lead to a change in geographical borders and partitioning of regional countries.”

Hatami said the referendum “was tantamount to playing into the hands of Daesh [ISIS] terrorists and their regional and international allies.”