The Iraqi parliament ruled on Wednesday to give the mandate to Prime Minister Haider Abadi to deploy the armed forces into the disputed region of Kirkuk, Sputnik news agency reported.
"The supreme commander of the armed forces shall take all constitutional and legal measures to protect Iraq’s unity and protect its citizens, to issue an order to the security forces to return and settle in all disputed areas, including Kirkuk," the parliament’s document reads.
The Iraqi parliament also confirmed that the authorities intended to prosecute the Kurdish officials responsible for organizing the referendum on the independence of the Iraqi Kurdistan, including regional President Masoud Barzani.
The parliament calls on country's government to summon the ambassadors of the states having representative offices and diplomatic missions in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region to inform them about closure and transfer of these offices and mission to other Iraqi provinces.
It also demanded the closure all border crossings not controlled by the federal authorities of the country.
'WE WON'T HAVE A DIALOGUE ABOUT THE REFERENDUM OUTCOME'
Abadi demanded on Wednesday that Kurdish authorities cancel the outcome of the independence referendum in northern Iraq, as a condition for dialogue to resolve an escalating crisis. In a speech to parliament, Abadi renewed his ultimatum to Masoud Barzani's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand over control of international airports by Friday or face a ban on direct international flights to the Kurdish region.
"We won't have a dialogue about the referendum outcome," Abadi told parliament. "If they want to start talks, they must cancel the referendum and its outcome."
The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority sent a notice on Wednesday to foreign airlines telling them international flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniya in the Kurdish region would be suspended on Friday at 1500 GMT and only domestic flights allowed.
IRAQI MILITARY DELEGATION TO TRAVEL IRAN
An Iraqi military delegation, headed by Chief of General Staff Osman Ganimi, is travelling on Wednesday to Iran to discuss issues of bilateral military cooperation, according to a statement by the Iraqi army press service.
"The chief of the general staff of the [Iraqi] army leads a high-level delegation, which is heading to the Islamic Republic of Iran to coordinate efforts and military cooperation," the statement says.
On Monday, the autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on independence, whose official results will be announced on Thursday.
