US President Donald Trump is reaching out to domestic opposition groups in Iran to build up a force against the regime from inside. He has offered to provide Kurds in Iran as well as its neighbouring Iraq with “extensive air cover” if they initiated an uprising against Tehran. The 79-year-old Republican also offered other support for anti-regime Iranian Kurds and those in Iraq, The Washington Post reported.
A senior official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said that the US’s request is for Iraqi Kurds not to be a roadblock for their Iranian peers mobilising in Iraq and also to offer logistical support. The PUK is one of the two key political parties that governs Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Trump was vocal about his desire during an interview with news agency Reuters. “I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that, I’d be all for it,” he said when asked if America’s backing would come if Kurds rebelled.
The US President, however, declined to confirm if they had offered air cover for any such Kurdish offensive. “I can’t tell you that.”
The PUK official said Trump was “clear” in his call to the group’s leader Bafel Talabani. The official further said that the Republican asked the Kurds to choose a side in the ongoing battle: “America and Israel or with Iran”.
Trump also spoke to Mustafa Hijri, who is the head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the oldest Iranian Kurdish opposition party. It is stronger and more organised than other Kurds in Iran. Despite long-standing conflict with the Shia-dominated Iraqi government in Baghdad, the PDKI has control over their region and economy.
The PDKI is also part of a group of six anti-regime Iranian Kurdish parties that recently announced their formation from an ‘Iraqi Kurdistan’ declaration. On Wednesday, the group urged all Iranian soldiers, especially in Kurdistan, to abandon their bases and withdraw their support from the regime. The Iraqi Kurds have long provided refuge for their Iranian peers, considering they don’t plot any attack against the regime.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump’s phone calls with Kurdish leaders. She, however, dismissed any reports about America providing weapons to the groups.
The Kurds are among the largest minority groups in Iraq, Syria and parts of Turkey.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have constantly been calling for Iranians to rise against the regime and take back their country. However, the US President said he is also open to cooperative people from the existing regime to control the West Asian nation.
The Republican told Reuters on Thursday that he wants America to play a role in picking Iran’s next leader. “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again,” he said.
