Al-Monitor- Iraqi Kurds headed to the polls Sept. 25 to vote on an�independence referendum�despite continued strong opposition from�neighboring Turkey�and Iran, the broader international community and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad. Iran had long made its�opposition to the referendum�known, although how exactly Tehran would respond remained in doubt. It seems that the first step has been taken with the�closing of Iranian airspace�to the Iraqi Kurdistan region.


�With the request of Iraq�s central government,�all Iranian flights�to Sulaimaniyah and Erbil as well as flights passing through our airspace to the Kurdistan region have been suspended,� said Kayvan Khosravi, the spokesman for Iran�s Supreme National Security Council, on Sept. 24. He said the council had held a special meeting on the referendum and Baghdad's request.

�Hasty decisions by some of the officials of Iraqi Kurdistan limit Kurd's power to act through constructive dialogue in Iraq�s government and pose challenges to the security of Kurdish people and the country of Iraq,� Khosravi further remarked. The referendum, he added, �poses serious challenges for the region.�

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