Iraq is using a period of relative stability to assert more control over the oil-rich autonomous Kurdistan region that has long had fraught relations with federal authorities, analysts and politicians say. Long-simmering disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the northern region, came to a head recently after several Supreme Court rulings seen by the Kurds as an attempt to weaken the region’s autonomy. Regional prime minister Masrour Barzani warned last week of “conspiracies aimed at undermining and dismantling the Kurdistan region” with “internal support within Kurdistan”. The pre…