Kurds defeated, displaced and divided after Iraq reclaims oil-rich Kirkuk
(The Guardian Iran)

An independence referendum supposed to strengthen the Kurds´ position ended in a retreat in which Iranian influence was keyWhen the guns fell silent on the Kirkuk-Erbil road, just after noon on Friday, a fresh border had been scythed through the oil-rich soil - and a new line of influence carved across northern Iraq.Their gun barrels still hot, vanquished peshmerga forces began another withdrawal a few miles closer to the seat of government in the now shrunken boundaries of Iraqi Kurdistan. A few miles south, closer to Kirkuk, Iraqi forces were digging in, their conquest of the entire province complete, and their five-day sweep through the rest of the north having seized up to 14,000 sq km from the Kurds, with a minimum of bother. Continue reading...