Reuters - Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani has arrived in Iraqs Kurdistan region for talks about the escalating crisis between the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi government following the Kurdish independence referendum, a Kurdish official said on Sunday.
Soleimani is the commander of foreign operations for Irans elite Revolutionary Guards, a military corp providing training and weapons to Iraqi paramilitary groups backing the Shia-led government in Baghdad.
Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; writing by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Louise Heavens