TEHRAN/IRBIL, Iraq: Iran has shut its border with Iraqi Kurdistan in response to its independence referendum, the foreign ministry said Monday.

"At the request of the Iraqi government, we have closed our land and air borders" with Iraqi Kurdistan, said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi at a press conference, adding that the referendum was "illegal and illegitimate."

The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country also is considering closing down its airspace as well as a border gate to northern Iraq due to the referendum, which Turkey strongly opposes.

Yildirim also said on Monday that officers and experts from Iraq's army would join military exercises that Turkey launched along the border in an apparent warning to the Iraqi Kurds.

The Turkish premier said Ankara would from now on "enter a strong" dialogue with Baghdad, saying it regarded the central government in the Iraqi capital as the legitimate authority over border crossings, airports and oil trade in the Kurdish region.

He says Turkey had received a formal request from Baghdad requesting the closure of the airspace and border crossing. Yildirim also suggested that Turkey would take action if the Turkmen population came under attack or if Turks encountered "obstructions or problems" at the border crossing.