Shafaq News- Erbil
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday accused the Financial Times of inaccurately portraying Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s remarks on the withdrawal of US and Global Coalition forces from Iraq.
In a statement, Barzani’s media office said the newspaper’s headline and interpretation did not accurately reflect his comments, accusing the report of introducing conclusions and interpretations that obscured what he had actually said.
سەرۆکی حکومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان بۆ ڕۆژنامەی فاینانشەڵ تایمز: بەجێهێشتنی هەرێمی کوردستان بەبێ دابینکردنی هیچ سیستەمێکی بەرگری، مایەی نیگەرانییەhttps://t.co/mVdYW5vgHy pic.twitter.com/KyXrXIMT2A
— KRG Dept. of Media & Information (@DMI_KRG) September 27, 2026
The Financial Times published an interview under the headline, “US withdrawal from Iraq ‘shameful’, Kurdish leader says.” Barzani’s office said his position was that leaving the Kurdistan Region without adequate air defense “makes the region vulnerable,” adding that the Region had suffered more than 1,000 drone, rocket and missile attacks from Iran and "militias" within Iraq since February 28.
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The office said it had raised the “inaccuracies” with the Financial Times and asked the newspaper to amend the article to reflect Barzani’s remarks and the “facts on the ground.”
It also rejected the article’s assertion that Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups “operate openly” in the Kurdistan Region, saying the report provided no evidence for the claim. The office pointed to a security agreement involving Erbil, Baghdad and Tehran, saying Iranian-Kurdish groups in the Kurdistan Region “are mindful of” the agreement.
To address what it said were inaccuracies in the report, the office republished several of Barzani’s remarks from the interview. Barzani said the withdrawal of US and Coalition forces comes at a highly sensitive time and expressed concern about leaving the Kurdistan Region without defensive systems. He also warned that continued insecurity in Iraq posed a direct threat to the foundations of the federal system.