Iran and Iraq hold joint drills at Kurdish border

Iranian and Iraqi forces conducted joint military exercises yesterday near the border with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region after tensions over the Kurds’ independence vote.

Iraqi Kurds voted 92.7 per cent in favour of independence on Sept 25 in a non-binding referendum held in defiance of the central government.

“Iraqi and Iranian units began exercises at 11am with tanks and infantry only 250 metres from the border,” said Shwan Abu Bakr, the Kurdish customs chief at the Bashmakh border post.