The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) new cabinet will not solely be determined by the political victors of the Sept. 21 regional elections; Turkey and Iran —the two rival regional powers — continue to exert pressure on this process to protect their interests and allies in the next government.
On Nov. 10, Lvin Press — the leading political independent magazine in Iraqi Kurdistan — reported on a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan by Mohammad Jafari Sahraroudi, an operative of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The Kurds in Iran believe Sahraroudi assassinated their historical leader, Abdulrahman Qasimlou — then-president of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran — in 1989 in Vienna. The magazine also reported a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan by Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Forces.