LATEST: Iran Returns SU-25 Fighter Jets to Iraq

FRIDAY FEATURE

Iran Analysis: Rouhani Tries Again for Cooperation With US Over Iraq


UPDATE 1100 GMT: Kurdish leaders have responded sharply to Prime Minister al-Maliki’s accusation that they are harboring the Islamic State, Baathists, and Al Qa’eda.

An official said that Kurdish ministers will now boycott the Government: “As a first response to Maliki’s threats, the Kurdish leadership has decided that our ministers will not attend any meetings of the Iraqi cabinet.”

A statement from the office of Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani lashed al-Maliki, “He has become hysterical and has lost his balance. He is doing everything he can to justify his failures and put the blame on others for these failures.”
The statement continued:

Kurdistan is proud for the fact that Erbil (the capital) has always served as refuge for oppressed people, including yourself when you fled the former dictatorship. Now Erbil is a refuge for people fleeing from your dictatorship. ISIS (Islamic State) and other groups have no place in Erbil, they stay with you. It was you who gave Iraqi land and the assets of six army divisions to ISIS.

The President’s office repeated the call for Maliki’s resignation: “You must apologize to the Iraqi people and step down. You have destroyed the country and someone who has destroyed the country cannot save the country from crises.”


Maintaining his defiance on Wednesday, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched an attack on the Kurdistan leadership, accusing it of supporting the Islamic State, the Baathists of Saddam Hussein, and Al Qa’eda.

Maliki, who has refused to step down amid the widespread insurgent gains of the past month, declared in his weekly TV address:

Honestly, we cannot be silent over Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital) being a headquarters for ISIS (the Islamic State), and Baath, and al-Qaeda and terrorist operations.

We cannot be silent over a movement that exploited the circumstances and expanded.

Maliki’s attack on the Kurds appears to have been prompted by developments including a planned referendum for Kurdish independence, Kurdish military occupation of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and the disputes in Parliament among Kurdish, Sunni, and Shia MPs.

Kurdish peshmerga moved into Kirkuk — which has a mixed Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen population — after insurgents seized the cities of Mosul and Tikrit last month.

In Baghdad, Kurdish and Sunni MPs have walked out of Parliamentary sessions seeking to name a Speaker, President, and Prime Minister.

Maliki warned, “They (the insurgents) will lose and so will their hosts, because they failed to provide an example of patriotic partnership.”


Iran Returns SU-25 Fighter Jets to Iraq

US and Iraqi officials have said that Iran has returned three Russian-made SU-25 Sukhoi fighter jets to the Iraqi Government for deployment against insurgents.

American officials said the aircraft have already conducted missions in western and northern Iraq.

Last month Russia said it was despatched 12 SU-25s to Baghdad, following a request by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. However, Iranian officials have repeatedly denied the return of any fighter jets, flown from Iraq to Tehran for safekeeping during the 1991 Gulf War.

An American official said that at least one of the planes had been flown by an Iranian pilot, but a senior Iraqi official insisted that the aircraft were being piloted only by Iraqis.

Government to UN: Islamic State has Seized Nuclear Materials

The Government has told the United Nations that the Islamic State seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in Mosul, taken over by opposition forces last month.

Iraq’s Ambassador said in a letter that almost 40kg (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were seized. He appealed for international help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad”.

US officials played down the threat, saying that the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and that it would be difficult for the rebels to use the materials to make weapons.

Last month the Government confirmed that insurgents have occupied a former chemical weapons complex north of Baghdad.

See Iraq Daily, July 9: Government — Insurgents Have Taken Former Chemical Weapons Facility