The presidents of Iran and Turkey pledged yesterday to oppose the independence bid by Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared a rare moment of unity at a press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran following last month’s independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“We will not accept changing borders in the region,” Mr Rouhani said. “Turkey, Iran and Iraq have no choice but to take serious and necessary measures to protect their strategic goals in the region.”