U.S. President Donald Trump is in contact with anti-government groups in Iran to build anti-government forces within Iran. He offered to provide "extensive air cover” to Kurds in Iran and neighboring Iraq if they launched an uprising against Tehran. The 79-year-old Republican also proposed other support for dissident Iranian Kurds and those in Iraq, the Washington Post reported.
A senior official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said the U.S. request was for Iraqi Kurds not to become an obstacle to their Iranian colleagues mobilizing in Iraq and to provide logistical support. The PUK is one of the two main political parties that govern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Trump revealed his wishes in an interview with news agency Reuters. Asked whether U.S. support would come if the Kurds revolted, he said, "I think it’s great that they want to do that.”
But the US president refused to confirm whether he had provided air cover for such Kurdish attacks. “I can’t tell you that.”
A PUK official said Trump was "clear” in his call with PUK leader Bafel Talabani. The official also said Republicans had asked the Kurds to choose a side in the ongoing battle: "the United States, Israel or Iran.”
President Trump also spoke with Mustafa Hijri, head of Iran’s oldest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI). It is more powerful and organized than other Kurds in Iran. Despite a long conflict with the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government in Baghdad, the PDKI maintains control of the region and the economy.
PDKI is also part of a group of six anti-regime Iranian Kurdish political parties that recently announced their formation through the ‘Iraqi Kurdistan’ declaration. The group on Wednesday called on all Iranian soldiers, especially those in Kurdistan, to abandon their bases and withdraw support for the regime. Iraqi Kurds have long provided refuge to their Iranian colleagues, given that they do not plan attacks on the regime.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed that President Trump spoke with Kurdish leaders. But she dismissed reports that the United States had provided weapons to the groups.
Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in Iraq, Syria and parts of Türkiye.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have constantly called on Iranians to rise up against the regime and take back their homeland. But the US president said he was also open to collaborators of the existing regime to take control of the West Asian country.
Republicans told Reuters on Thursday they want the United States to play a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this over and over again,” he said.
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