The United States is in talks with Kurdish opposition forces in an attempt to arm them and foment an uprising in Iran, according to multiple media reports, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its fifth day.
President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing with Kurdish opposition groups the possibility of arming them, according to CNN, citing Kurdish and US officials. As of Wednesday, it was unclear whether any agreement had been reached.
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Kurdish rebels have opposed Tehran for years and have carried out numerous attacks in Iran’s Kurdistan province as well as other western provinces. They operate along the Iraq-Iran border, and Iran and Iraq’s Kurdish minorities share close ties.
The US spy agency CIA has a history of working with Kurdish groups in neighboring Iraq, which the US invaded in 2003. Washington also financed, 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 decades to destabilize governments critical of US foreign policy.
Amid the ongoing war, and as Iran attacks US assets and personnel housed in neighboring Gulf countries, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also attacked Kurdish positions in the west.
“Instinctively, it seems like a bad move,” analyst Neil Quillian at the UK-based think tank Chatham House told Al Jazeera of the plan, warning that it could cause more internal conflict in Iran.
“It is an afterthought and has not figured into any major planning to support a broader endgame. It reveals that the US-Iran war against Iran has been poorly thought out,” he said.
Here’s what we know so far:
What is happening?
CNN reported Wednesday that the CIA is negotiating with multiple Kurdish groups to assist them in an uprising.
US officials told CNN that the goal would be to use the Kurds to stretch Iranian forces and enable popular protests, or to help them seize and control northern Iran, thereby creating a buffer for Israel.
Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), on Tuesday, CNN reported, citing a Kurdish official. In the coming days, Kurdish groups in Iran will participate in ground operations in western Iran, the official told CNN.
Earlier on Tuesday, US publication Axios also reported that on Sunday, a day after the US-Israel bombing campaign against Iran began, Trump spoke with the leaders of two Kurdish groups in Iraq: Masoud Barzani, who heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Axios cited sources with knowledge of the exchanges. The publication also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pushed for months for a connection between the United States and the Kurds. Israel has established intelligence networks between Kurdish groups in Iran, Iraq and Syria.
At least one Kurdish leader, Bafel Talabani, has confirmed the call with Trump.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PUK said Trump “offered an opportunity to better understand American objectives and discuss joint support to build a strong partnership between the United States and Iraq.”
No further details were given.
Analyst Quilliam said the plan could fuel internal conflict within Iran by pitting opposition groups against each other, rather than helping them unite to challenge “the remnants of the regime.”
“There may be little trust or faith among Kurdish groups in Iran that US support will be respected,” he said.
“Trump’s approach to regime change is largely a DIY approach, and while supporting Iran’s Kurdish groups might advance that goal, it would be doing so without any responsibility for what happens: the United States can simply walk away and leave the disaster behind.”
What is the history of the United States in arming Kurdish groups?
The Kurds are an ethnic minority spread throughout the Middle East, but without their own state and with a history of marginalization in all countries. They share a common culture and language. Various Kurdish groups have sought self-government in Turkiye, Syria and Iran for decades.
Washington has been a historic ally, particularly of the Iraqi Kurds. The United States provided tactical support in the form of no-fly zones that protected Kurdish groups during the 1991 uprising, although Washington was criticized for inciting the revolt and then abandoning the people when Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein responded violently.
The no-fly zone allowed for the creation of a de facto Kurdish-controlled region, the Kurdish Regional Government, which was officially recognized in 2005.
Since 2014, the United States has also partnered militarily with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to fight ISIL (ISIS) in Iraq.
Similarly, the United States, under the first Trump administration in 2017, trained and armed the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkiye lists as a “terrorist” group due to its ties to the outlawed Turkiye-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in its successful resistance to ISIL.
The group, which now forms the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), controlled Raqqa and other ISIL strongholds until very recently. However, Washington distanced itself from the group and backed the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which took power in December 2024. The SDF signed an agreement with the Syrian government to integrate into government forces. In exchange, the Syrian government recognized the rights of the Kurds.
The main Turkish Kurdish group has decided to lay down its arms and collaborate with the Turkish state after four decades of bloody armed rebellion.
Therefore, Washington’s alliance with the Iranian Kurds is not strategic, noted analyst Quilliam. The United States has demonstrated its ability to move away from alliances, he said, and from the point of view of important regional partners, Washington could raise ire.
“It would be a big concern for Washington’s partners in the region, especially Turkiye and Syria, and it would also be a big headache for Iraq,” he said.
A brief history of the arming and financing of rebel groups by the CIA
The US spy agency has financed, trained and supplied weapons to rebels and armed groups in numerous countries over the past five or six decades.
Afghanistan: Beginning in the late 1970s, the CIA funded and trained Afghan mujahideen to fight the Soviet occupation.
Libya: The US spy agency provided intelligence and other support to rebels who fought against leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Iran: The CIA, in a joint operation with the British spy agency MI6, helped groups, including military officers, overthrow the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in 1953.
Nicaragua: In the 1980s, the CIA provided weapons and funds to the Contras against the socialist Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega. The CIA also supported armed groups in Guatemala (1954) and Cuba (1960-61) and El Salvador to destabilize governments critical of US policy in Latin America.
Vietnam: Beginning in the 1950s, the CIA began arming rebels in Vietnam. He later sent in his army, making it one of the bloodiest American interventions of all time.
Indonesia: In the late 1960s, the US spy agency armed rebels against President Sukarno.
