ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Attacks on the Kurdistan Region by armed groups are against Iraq as a whole and attempt to “weaken” the state, the US ambassador to Iraq said on Tuesday.

“When we see attacks on the Kurdish areas, we see it as an attack against Iraq as a whole and an attempt to weaken Iraq,” Matthew Tueller said in an interview with the Saudi owned al-Hadath TV.

Tueller also added that weapons used in many of those attacks are “Iranian made” and that the attacks are part of an “extremist revolutionary resistance” that Iran is trying to impose on the region.

“We do not seek to sever the relationship between Iraq and Iran, but this relationship must be based on respect for sovereignty between the two sides, and there should be no interference in the affairs of the other,” he added.

The ambassador’s statements come amid meetings in Vienna between members of the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to try and salvage the deal. The US in taking part in indirect talks to save the agreement.

The latest meeting was on Tuesday.

“Overall, the process of JCPOA talks is on the right track, but we have challenges,” deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, a senior Iranian economic official said that attacks on bases with US troops will continue in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

“If Americans want to concentrate their troops in the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq, they will be dealt with the same as any other part of Iraq, for Iraqi youth do not want foreign troops to be present in their country,” Hassan Danaeifar told Tasnim News.

“Attacks on US military bases will continue,” he added.

Tueller also expressed US support for the upcoming Iraqi elections.

"Whoever works for the upcoming elections to be dishonest, is seeking to keep Iraq weak and without sovereignty,” Tueller said.

“We hope that the Iraqi government guarantees that the elections will not be only fair, free, and transparent, but also free from any attempts from any side using weapons to affect the results,” he added.

Iraq had initially planned to hold early elections on June 6. However, in January, Iraq’s Council of Ministers decided to postpone elections to October 10.

Rudaw