Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region announced on Tuesday it was calling presidential and parliamentary elections for Nov. 1 as the Kurdish leadership moved to capitalize on a referendum that delivered huge support for independence.

The central government in Baghdad imposed further punitive measures in retaliation for the independence vote last month by slapping sanctions on Kurdish banks and halting foreign currency transfers to the Kurdish region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not declared independence.

On Tuesday, Iraq's central bank told the KRG that it would no longer sell dollars to four leading Kurdish banks and would stop all foreign currency transfers to the region, banking and government sources told Reuters.

Masoud Barzani, the heir of a dynasty which has led a Kurdish struggle for independence for over a century, has held the KRG presidency since its establishment in 2005, two years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

...