President Masoud Barzani met with the visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif in Erbil on Tuesday. The two discussed the fight against ISIS terrorists, government formation process in Baghdad and other issues of mutual concern.

Foreign Minister Zarif stated that the Islamic Republic would always stand by the Iraqis, including the people of Kurdistan, against terrorism, adding that the terrorism is a threat everyone, be it Shia, Sunni or Kurds. He further added that it is in the interest of Iran to fight terrorism.

President Barzani expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Republic for their support in the fight against terrorism, and hope that relations between the two sides would continue to grow. He added that terrorism is a threat to all, and that cooperation is needed by all sides to address this threat.

On government formation in Baghdad, Mr Zarif expressed his country’s desire to see an inclusive government formed in Baghdad and urged the Kurds to actively play their role to help form such a government. He said the Islamic Republic would support any agreement reached between Baghdad and Erbil.

President Barzani stated that he supports the efforts to form an inclusive government in Baghdad, adding that there must be guarantees regarding any agreements reached between Erbil and Baghdad.

AL-KHAZAR CAMP, July 17, 2014 (AFP) - The head of the UN's refugee agency praised Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan for welcoming hundreds of thousands of displaced people and urged the world to offer it "massive" support.

Antonio Guterres told reporters during a visit to the Al-Khazar camp for displaced Iraqis that he was "humbled by the generosity and the solidarity of the government and of the people of Kurdistan in this very difficult moment."

People forced from their homes in Iraq's Nineveh governorate since a jihadist-led offensive that started on June 9 have fled en masse to neighbouring Kurdistan, which has remained largely stable.

Guterres stressed that the autonomous region had already borne a heavy burden with an earlier influx of refugees from war-torn Syria and he added that the strain was made worse by the fact that the government in Baghdad had stopped sending Arbil its share of federal oil revenue.

"And even without those resources, the government and people of Kurdistan have been receiving all these people and sharing with them everything they have," he said.

Kurdistan and the Shiite-dominated federal government have been locked in an escalating war of words in recent weeks.

Arbil blames Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for the security collapse that saw extremist Sunni militants seize large swathes of land in western and northern Iraq.

Maliki has in turn accused the Kurdish leadership of taking advantage of the chaos to expand the borders of its envisioned independent state by moving into disputed territories, and of illegally exporting Iraqi oil.

Guterres, who met Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on Wednesday, urged the international community "to provide massive support for the Iraqis displaced, for the Iraqi victims of this conflict, but also to provide massive support to the government and the people in Kurdistan."

He said that the population of internally displaced people in Iraq now topped two million.

Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org) – President Masoud Barzani met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran Brett McGurk today to discuss the latest political and security developments in Iraq.

Mr McGurk expressed his country’s concern about the spread of terrorism in Iraq, after the events of Ninawa last month and said that the US would support Iraq in its fight against terrorist groups provided the political process is put on the right track and a truly inclusive government is formed in Baghdad. He also thanked the KRG for their role and security cooperation in Ninawa.

President Barzani stated that the Region will work on two paths in parallel: the first is to work with moderate Shia and Sunnis in Iraq to find a comprehensive political solution based on the new realities on the ground. The second is that the Region would continue in its efforts to organize a referendum so that the people will exercise their right for self-determination.