As the U.S.-Israel war against Iran enters its fifth day, media reports say the United States is providing arms to Kurdish rebel forces and holding talks with rebels with the aim of inciting an uprising in Iran.
President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing possible arms deliveries with Kurdish opposition groups, CNN reported, citing Kurdish and US officials. As of Wednesday, it was unclear whether any deals had been signed.
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Kurdish rebels have long opposed Tehran and carried out numerous attacks in Iran’s Kurdistan province and other western provinces. They operate along the Iraq-Iran border, and Iran and Iraq’s Kurdish minority share close ties.
The US intelligence agency, the CIA, has a history of working with Kurdish groups in neighboring Iraq, which the US invaded in 2003. The U.S. government also funded, armed, and trained Kurdish fighters in Syria opposed to former President Bashar al-Assad. Over the past several decades, the CIA has funded rebel groups and armed groups in many countries to destabilize governments critical of U.S. foreign policy.
As the war continues, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has also targeted Kurdish strongholds in the West, as Iran attacks U.S. assets and personnel in neighboring Gulf states.
“Intuitively, this feels like a bad move,” Neil Quillian, an analyst at the UK-based think tank Chatham House, told Al Jazeera about the plan, warning it could spark further internal conflict within Iran.
“This is an afterthought and not part of a major plan to support the broader end game. This makes it clear that the U.S.-Iranian war against Iran has not been adequately considered.”
Here’s what we know so far:
what’s happening?
CNN reported on Wednesday that the CIA was in talks with several Kurdish organizations to support the uprising.
U.S. officials told CNN that the goal is to use the Kurds to expand Iranian military power and allow popular protests, or to help the Kurds occupy and control northern Iran and create a buffer against Israel.
Trump met with Mustafa Hijri, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), on Tuesday, CNN reported, citing Kurdish officials. The official told CNN that Iranian Kurdish groups are expected to take part in ground operations in western Iran in the coming days.
Earlier on Tuesday, US publication Axios also reported that President Trump met with the leaders of two Iraqi Kurdish groups, Masoud Barzani, who heads the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, and Baffer Talabani, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), on Sunday, a day after the US and Israeli bombing campaign against Iran began.
Axios cited sources familiar with the exchange. The paper also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been lobbying for months for U.S.-Kurdish ties. Israel has established intelligence networks between Kurdish groups in Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
At least Kurdish leader Baffer Talabani confirmed he spoke with Trump.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PUK said President Trump “provided an opportunity to better understand U.S. goals and discuss joint support to build a strong U.S.-Iraqi partnership.”
No further details were disclosed.
Analyst Quilliam said the plan could foment conflict within Iran by promoting rebel groups against each other rather than helping them unite against “remnants of the regime.”
“There should be little trust or belief among Kurdish groups in Iran that U.S. assistance will be respected,” he said.
“President Trump’s approach to regime change is very much a do-it-yourself approach, and while supporting Iranian Kurdish groups may advance that goal, he is doing so without taking any responsibility for what happens. The United States can simply walk away and leave the mess behind.”
What is the history of the US arming Kurdish groups?
Kurds are an ethnic minority that spreads throughout the Middle East, but they do not have their own state and have a history of being marginalized in each country. They share a common culture and language. Several Kurdish groups have sought autonomy in Turkiye, Syria, and Iran for decades.
Washington has historically been an ally of the Iraqi Kurds in particular. The United States provided tactical support in the form of a no-fly zone to protect Kurdish groups during the 1991 uprising, but the United States was criticized for encouraging the insurgency and then abandoning the people as Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces responded violently.
This no-fly zone allowed the creation of the Kurdish Regional Government, a de facto Kurdish-controlled region, which was officially recognized in 2005.
Since 2014, the United States has also partnered militarily with the Kurdish Peshmerga force to fight the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS).
Similarly, the United States under the first Trump administration in 2017 trained and armed the Turkish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia that the Turkish government lists as a “terrorist” group due to its ties to the banned Turkiye-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in order to successfully resist ISIL.
The group, now a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), until recently controlled Raqqa and other ISIL strongholds. However, Washington turned its back on the group and supported the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which took office in December 2024. The SDF has signed an agreement with the Syrian government to integrate into government forces. In return, the Syrian government recognized the rights of the Kurds.
After four decades of bloody armed rebellion, Turkey’s main Kurdish group has decided to lay down its arms and engage the Turkish state.
Therefore, the alliance between Washington and the Iranian Kurds is not strategic, said analyst Quilliam. He said the United States has demonstrated the ability to walk away from alliances, which could provoke anger from the perspective of important regional partners.
“It’s a big concern for America’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 CIA’s arming and funding of rebel groups
U.S. spy agencies have been funding, training, and arming rebels and armed groups in many countries over the past 50 to 60 years.
Afghanistan: Starting in the late 1970s, the CIA funded and trained the Afghan Mujahideen to fight the Soviet occupation.
Libya: U.S. spy agencies provided intelligence and other support to rebel groups fighting longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Iran: In a joint operation with British intelligence agency MI6, the CIA supported a group including military personnel to overthrow the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in 1953.
Nicaragua: In the 1980s, the CIA provided weapons and funding to the Contras against Daniel Ortega’s socialist Sandinista government. The CIA also supported armed groups in Guatemala (1954), Cuba (1960-61), and El Salvador to destabilize governments critical of U.S. policy in Latin America.
Vietnam: Starting in the 1950s, the CIA began arming Vietnamese rebels. Then troops were sent in, resulting in one of the bloodiest US interventions in history.
Indonesia: In the late 1960s, US spy agencies armed rebels against President Sukarno.
