US said to be in talks with Iranian Kurdish militias regarding direct action in Iran
The distinct ethnic group make up 10 percent of the Iranian population, historically centred in the country's northeast
The United States has reportedly entered discussions with Iranian Kurdish militias about the possibility of attacking the Ayatollah regime’s security forces , opening up the possibility that the US will use the region’s sectarianism to launch armed resistance inside Iranian territory itself.
As initially reported by CNN, the CIA has been in discussions with Kurdish militias in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is unclear at this point whether the United States has decided to work together with these groups to further destabilise the Iranian regime.
Kurds make up approximately 10% of the Iranian population, with half a dozen provinces in the northwestern region of the country containing either a majority or a sizeable minority from the distinct ethnic group.
Just weeks ago, however, the Trump administration signalled that despite a decade of US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, America was now inclined to support both the Syrian and Turkish governments in their attempts to crush the Kurdish enclave in northeastern Syria. It is unknown whether this perceived betrayal will affect how Kurds elsewhere view US offers of aid and arms in return for launching an operation against the Iranian regime.
While the initial strikes by America and Israel have successfully removed many of the remaining senior officials who were left alive after the 12 day war between Iran and Israel last June – including the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – the Trump administration in particular is facing growing questions regarding its long term plan to bring down the current Iranian regime. On Monday the US President told ABC News, with regards to Iran’s future leadership, that “the attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates. It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.” The implication from those comments was that, like in Venezuela in January, the initial US plan was merely to replace the top tier leadership with other figures from the regime deemed more amenable to the US – a step that would be at odds both with the Israeli government and the wider Iranian diaspora.
Over the weekend, Trump made statements directly to the Iranian people, saying that “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.” It is unclear, given the Iranian regime’s severe repression of protests in January, when it is believed to have murdered tens of thousands of people, whether the country’s population will respond to that message.
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