Shafaq News/ Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative in Tehran, Nazim Dabbagh, denied the circulated news that Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani secretly visited Iran.

Dabbagh told the Voice of America (VOA) radio that "brother Masoud Barzani is not one of those people who visit Iran secretly," stressing that "it is not of Barzani's protocol to conduct such unofficial visits."

He added, "If Barzani had come, he would have officially met the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."

Earlier, local media reported that Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani made a two-day secret visit to Iran to pave the way for his political initiative to overcome the current political crisis in Iraq.