Kurdistan's president, British ambassador say Iraq should not be involved in the Mideast "complexities"

Shafaq News/ The President of Iraq's Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday met with the British Ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hitchen, in Erbil, the region's capital city.

A readout issued by his bureau said that President Barzani discussed with his guest the political situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan region, and the differences between the federal and regional governments.

The talks touched on the anticipated elections in the semi-autonomous region and the war in Gaza.

Barzani and Hitchen stressed the importance of protecting the security and stability of Iraq and Kurdistan, laying emphasis on "keeping Iraq out of the complexities of the region."

Iraq has suffered from an escalation in violence between US forces stationed in the country and Iran-backed paramilitary groups since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Most of the US air strikes on Iran-backed targets have taken place in central or southern Iraq but the Iranian attack on the semi-autonomous Kurdish-majority north suggested the conflict could spread there.

The high civilian death toll and humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war in Gaza have renewed international efforts to find a lasting and sustainable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including calls for a two-state solution.