WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States says it supports the "legitimate aspirations" of the people in Iraqi Kurdistan, a day after officials in the Kurdistan Region set September 25 as the date to hold a referendum on independence.
"We support a unified, stable and a federal Iraq," said US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. "We appreciate and understand the legitimate aspirations of the people of the Iraqi Kurdistan."
Nauert warned that the referendum could distract from the final defeat of ISIS.
"We have expressed our concerns to the authorities in the Kurdistan Region, but holding a referendum even a non-binding resolution at this time would distract from urgent priorities and that be the defeat of ISIS, the stabilization, the return of displaced people, managing of the region's economic crisis, and resolving the region's internal political disputes," she said.
The spokeswoman encouraged continued dialogue between Iraqi and Kurdistan Region officials.
"We would also encourage the regional authorities to engage with the government of Iraq on a full-range of important issues between the future of relations between Baghdad and Erbil," she said. "Our first and foremost task is, we believe as coalition partners, is to ensure the defeat of ISIS."
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via Defense News
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