Iraq is prepared to intervene militarily if the Kurdish region's planned independence referendum results in violence, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in an interview.

If the Iraqi population is "threatened by the use of force outside the law, then we will intervene militarily," he said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency on Saturday.

Iraq's Kurdish region plans to hold the referendum on support for independence from Iraq on September 25 in three governorates that make up their autonomous region, and in disputed areas controlled by Kurdish forces, but which are claimed by Baghdad.

"If you challenge the Constitution and if you challenge the borders of Iraq and the borders of the region, this is a public invitation to the countries in the region to violate Iraqi borders as well, which is a very dangerous escalation," Abadi said.

The leaders of Iraq's Kurdish region have said they hope the referendum will push Baghdad to come to the negotiating table and create a path for independence. However, Abadi said such negotiations would likely be complicated by the referendum vote.

"It will make it harder and more difficult," he said, but added: "I will never close the door to negotiations. Negotiations are always possible."

Iraq's Kurds have come under increasing pressure to call off the vote from regional powers and the United States, a key ally, as well as Baghdad.

In a statement released late on Friday, the White House called for the Kurdish region to abandon the referendum "and enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad".

"Holding the referendum in disputed areas is particularly provocative and destabilizing," the statement read.

Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have flared in the lead-up to the September 25 vote.

Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, has repeatedly threatened violence if Iraqi military or Shia militias attempt to move into disputed territories that are now under the control of Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga, specifically the city of Kirkuk.

Abadi said he is focused on legal responses to the Kurdish referendum on independence. Earlier this week, Iraq's parliament rejected the referendum in a vote boycotted by Kurdish politicians.

Iraq's Kurds have long held a dream of statehood. Iraq's Kurds established a regional government in 1992 after the US enforced a no-fly zone across the north following the Gulf War.

After the 2003 US-led invasion overthrew Saddam Hussein, the region secured constitutional recognition of its autonomy, but remained part of the Iraqi state.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani gestures as he attends a rally in support for the upcoming September 25th independence referendum. September 15, 2017

Al-Jazeera