ERBIL - It is not possible for Iran to be behind the demonstrations going on in southern pasts of Iraq as it does not serve Tehran's foreign policies, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official said on Wednesday.  

Nazim Dabbagh, who also serves as the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) representative to Tehran, told BasNews that the current situation in Iraq "is not what the Islamic Republic favours".

"It actually is what the terrorist organization of Daesh seeks. Look how the Daesh's [terrorist] activities have increased in Iraq. Is Iran behind the Daesh's activities?," the PUK official argued, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS).

He noted that any political tensions in Iraq affects Iran, as well since Iraq is a Shi'ite country.

Meanwhile, Sky News cited an Iraqi official who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that Tehran is indirectly behind the protests in Iraq.

"What Tehran has done is part of Iran's political blackmail on Iraq," the official told the news agency, referring to the Islamic Republic's cut-off of electricity used to be imported by Iraq.

The official believed that Iran wants to use the issue of the electricity as a political pressure card against Iraq as Tehran, according to the official, needs a consumption of 42,000 megawatts for domestic areas while it currently produces a total of 58,000 megawatts.