Is the CIA planning to arm Kurdish forces to spark an uprising in Iran?
Al Jazeera
Such a plan could further destabilise Iran rather than promote peace in the country, experts say.
The United States is in talks with opposition Kurdish forces in a bid to arm them and foment an uprising in Iran, according to multiple media reports, as the US-Israel war on Iran enters its fifth day.
President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing with opposition Kurdish groups the possibility of arming them, according to CNN, citing Kurdish and US officials. As of Wednesday, it was unclear whether any deals had been struck.
Kurdish rebels have for years opposed Tehran and carried out numerous attacks in Iran’s Kurdistan province as well as other western provinces. They operate along the Iraq-Iran border, with Iran and Iraq’s Kurdish minorities sharing close ties.
The US spy agency CIA has a history of working with Kurdish groups in neighbouring Iraq, which the US invaded in 2003. Washington also funded, armed and trained Kurdish fighters in Syria against former President Bashar al-Assad. The CIA has funded rebels and armed groups in numerous countries over the past several decades to destabilise governments critical of US foreign policy.
Amid the ongoing war, and as Iran hits US assets and personnel hosted in neighbouring Gulf countries, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also targeted Kurdish positions in the west.
