TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani on Sunday warned that a referendum for secession in the Iraqi Kurdistan region would have dire consequences for the region.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has always stood with the Kurdish brothers as a friend and ally under the hardest conditions, doesn’t view the referendum beneficial to the Iraqi Kurdistan region and is opposed to it," Shamkhani said.
He underlined the Kurdish officials' influential and important role in the Iraqi government, saying the reaction of Iraq’s neighbors to the vote would create a complicated situation for Kurdistan.  
"Iran only recognizes Iraq’s united, integrated and federal government," Shamkhani said.
On Saturday, top aide to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned of security repercussions of any secessionist moves in the region.
Ali Akbar Velayati warned that secessionist efforts by any ethnic group in the region would have a domino effect on the regional states, which would only serve the interests of the U.S. and the occupying regime of Israel.