Kurds deny smuggling of crude, refined products to Iran

As it was expected, Iraq's self-ruled northern Kurdish regional government denied Sunday the report made by The New York Times July 8 about smuggling crude and refined products to Iran for the benefit of the main two political parties as "inaccurate" and of course they continue to say that they work for all Iraq.

The denial statement came as the correspondent of the pan-Arab and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV, Ahmed Al-Salih, matched the Times report. Al-Salih managed to show the lines of hundreds of tankers waiting to enter Iran and also interviewed with the drivers.

In a bid to show how the central government is angry and worry about the smuggling, the government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh called the TV's video as a "clear evidence" that smuggling was talking place. "We will be contacting the Kurdish authorities to work together to put a stop to this phenomenon," Al-Dabbagh said.

Of course, Al-Dabbagh's statement was only a show as they will never be able to stop it as it is happening with many issues. In addition to that Iraq's Prime Minister will not dare to annoy the Kurds as he's begging for support from political factions to secure a second term in office.

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