Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the presidency of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) issued a decision preventing the party's officials and cadres from making any public statements regarding nominating the next Iraqi Presidency.

The PUK decision came after holding talks yesterday, Wednesday, with Esmail Qaani, the Iranian commander of the Quds Force, who visited Baghdad and met the Shiite Coordination Framework parties.

Earlier, a security source disclosed details about the meeting that brought Qaani and the PUK leaders, saying they discussed the Presidential election crisis.

He told Shafaq News Agency that a proposition was made to make the Kurdistan Democratic Party surrender the Iraqi Presidency to the PUK in exchange for all other positions and entitlements. However, if this option did not work, Qa'ani advised choosing a consensus Presidential candidate.

Sources reported to our Agency that the consensus candidate might be Latif Rashid, a member of the PUK Political Bureau and the brother-in-law of the late President Jalal Talabani.