Lawmakers Keep Arm’s Length from WH’s Reported Kurdish Insurgency Push in Iran

Lawmakers are largely keeping an arm’s length from the administration’s reported discussions with Kurdish leaders in Iraq about supporting an armed offensive against the Iranian regime, as an on-the-ground force aligned with U.S. interests in the ongoing American and Israeli air campaign.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has had discussions with Kurdish leaders about the U.S. base in northern Iraq, but denied that Trump agreed to support a Kurdish offensive.
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A brief issued Wednesday by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, however, offered support for engaging Kurdish partners.

“If the United States wants Operation Epic Fury to produce more than a temporary setback for Iran’s nuclear program, it needs organized partners on the ground — and it needs to arm, engage, and protect them now. The most capable candidates are Iran’s Kurdish political and armed movements,” the report’s authors, Giran Ozcan, a JINSA fellow for Kurdish Affairs, and Jonah Brody, a JINSA policy analyst, wrote. 

“Three concrete U.S. actions are necessary: arm the Kurds; help defend them against Iranian airstrikes; and pair military support with political engagement.”

But they warned that the U.S. will need to overcome mistrust from the Kurds generated by U.S. acquiescence to the Syrian government offensive against the U.S.’ Kurdish allies in that country, requiring the U.S. to offer “real and credible commitments of support for Iranian Kurdish aspirations, commitments that it will honor. At the same time, Iranian Kurdish groups must be realistic about what they can achieve and what the United States can deliver.”

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Originally published in Jewish Insider.