Trump offered 'extensive US air cover' for anti-regime Iranian Kurds to take over portions of Iran - reports
US President Trump discussed possible cooperation with Kurdish leaders in calls to Kurdish minority leaders in Iran and Iraq as it weighs further military options against Iran, the WP reports
The administration of US President Donald Trump has begun reaching out to Iranian Kurdish opposition figures as it considers further military options against Iran, the Washington Post reports according to officials familiar with the contacts. The outreach comes as Washington braces for the possibility of additional US casualties and weighs whether to deploy troops on the ground in Iran.
According to multiple sources, Trump held calls this week with Kurdish leaders in Iran and neighboring Iraq. During the discussions, the US president reportedly offered “extensive US air cover” and other backing for anti-regime Iranian Kurdish groups to take control of areas in western Iran.
A senior official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said Washington asked Iraqi Kurdish authorities to avoid obstructing the mobilization of Iranian Kurdish fighters based in Iraq. “The American request to the Iraqi Kurds is to open the way and not obstruct” Iranian Kurdish groups mobilizing in Iraq, “while also providing logistical support,” the official said.
The same official said Trump conveyed a direct message during a call with Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. “Trump was clear in his call,” the official said. “He told us the Kurds must choose a side in this battle — either with America and Israel or with Iran.”
An official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party confirmed that Trump also spoke with its leader, Masoud Barzani. The official said the issue was not only the number of armed groups that could enter Iran but also their support inside the country, stating that “it’s not about who has more active armed militias ready to move into Iran; it’s about who has more support from inside.”
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Trump also held talks with Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. The group is part of a coalition of six Iranian Kurdish opposition parties that recently announced their formation in Iraqi Kurdistan. In a statement on Wednesday, the party called on “all soldiers and personnel ... especially in Kurdistan” to abandon their bases and withdraw support from “the regime’s armed and repressive forces.”
Iraqi Kurdish authorities have historically allowed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups to operate from their territory under the condition that they do not plan attacks against Tehran. Analysts say any open support for anti-regime operations could risk destabilizing the fragile balance between the Kurdish region and Iran. Iraqi Kurds control a semi-autonomous region with its own economy and security forces, despite ongoing tensions with the Shiite dominated government in Baghdad.