SULAIMANI — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative to Tehran has said that he has long been in the dark about meetings between the region's officials and Iran. 

Nazim Dabbagh told Voice of America (VOA) on Thursday (May 19) that the representative office in Tehran has long been unaware of the details of the meetings between the region's delegations and Iranian officials.

He added that the communications occur through political parties rather than the KRG's representation, especially after the 2017 Kurdistan Independence referendum. 

Dabbagh is a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). 

He said, "just like everyone else", he is not aware of visits made by the region's political parties to Iran, and he hears about them in the media. 

"Everything is done from Erbil and Sulaimani through the Iranian consulates. They organise the visits themselves, especially if they come by private planes; we are less aware of it," he said. 

He added that Iranian delegations had visited Sulaimani and Erbil many times to meet with the KDP or PUK officials; however, no one had heard about them. 

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PUK control security and administration in different parts of the Kurdistan Region and separately control different KRG's representations abroad. 

The KDP controls Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK controls Sulaimani and Halabja provinces. (NRT Digital Media)

http://krg-iran.com/english/administrator/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item