TEHRAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday blocked all flights to and from Iraq's Kurdistan and launched a large-scale military drills near Iraq's Kurdistan borders.
Closing off the borders by Tehran came at the request of Baghdad a day ahead of the independence referendum in the autonomous Kurdish region.
"At the request of the central government of Iraq, all flights from Iran to Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, as well as all flights through our airspace originating from the Kurdistan region, have been stopped," official news agency IRNA quoted the spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Keivan Khosravi, as saying.
Since Iran's political activities did not result in conclusion due to the Kurdistan's insistence on referendum, the SNSC decided in its urgent meeting on Sunday morning to seal its borders to the Kurdish flights, Khosravi said.
"The hasty decision of the Kurdistan authorities has both limited their role in Iraq's political scene and has opened the security of Iraq, the region and the Kurds to serious challenges," he added.
On Sunday, Turkey also closed its airspace to Iraqi Kurdistan flights.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched war games on Sunday near the borders with Iraq's Kurdistan region, Iranian State broadcaster IRIB reported.
IRIB said military drills, part of annual events held in Iran to mark the beginning of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, are centered in the Oshnavieh border region.
The war game, described as a "security drill" and code-named Muharram, is being held under the supervision of the IRGC's Hamze Sayyid al-Shohada Base, Tasnim news agency also reported.
High-ranking commanders, including IRGC Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami and IRGC Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, were present in the operation zone as the drills kicked off.
Various military units, such as the IRGC infantry, the artillery, the electronic warfare units, ground force airborne division, missile units and drone squad have taken part in the war game.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the drill, General Pakpour said the purpose of the exercise is to boost coordination among the military units and carry out joint operations involving various branches.
He also noted that the drill's zone used to be a hotbed of counter-revolutionary militants in the past, who have been cleansed following the IRGC's mighty operations.
Also, the spokesperson for the drill, General Habib Shahsavari, said the exercise is aimed at simulating the conditions in a real war.
Shahsavari said that any hostile plan against the country's frontiers will draw a decisive response from the armed forces.
Clashes with Iranian Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq are fairly common in the border area.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has resisted calls by the United Nations, the United States, Britain, the Iraqi government, Iran and Turkey to delay the referendum who fear it could further destabilize the region.
On June 7, the Kurdish President Masoud Barzani announced his intention to hold a referendum on the independence of the Kurdish region from Iraq on Sept. 25.
The independence of Kurds is opposed by many countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and it comes as the Iraqi forces are in fight against the Islamic State group.
In addition, the neighboring countries of Turkey, Iran and Syria see that such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in those countries.
