Transcript [00:00] Okay, major update on the Kurds [00:02] situation. Yesterday I made a video [00:04] talking about what's going on with the [00:05] Kurds in northwest Iran or just over the [00:08] border in Iraq and there's been some [00:11] developments. Last night it was reported [00:13] that there was actually a ground [00:14] invasion of Kurdish forces coming across [00:17] the border from Iraq to Iran. Uh and uh [00:22] you know and it there seems to be some [00:24] conflicting reporting but let's give an [00:26] update because this could be a gamecher [00:28] in the course of this war. So, right [00:30] here in the New York Post, we have the [00:31] story, why Kurds could be the biggest [00:33] threat to the Mullas as fighters launch [00:35] ground offensive against Iran. Now, that [00:37] title of this article was probably not [00:40] written by the person who wrote the [00:41] article. It looks like kind of clickbait [00:42] because it doesn't really talk about how [00:44] they're the greatest threat to the uh to [00:46] the Mullers in Iran. Thousands of [00:48] Kurdish fighters launched a ground [00:50] offensive inside Iran on Wednesday [00:53] following claims that Israel and the US [00:55] were hoping that the armed ethnic [00:57] minority group could help overthrow the [00:58] regime. Okay. And they're operating on [01:01] the Iraq Iran border. [01:03] It remains unclear whether the [01:05] well-trained Kurdish militias in the [01:07] self-governed region of Iraqi Kurdistan [01:09] will get involved. Okay. So, let me [01:11] explain this. There are there are Kurds [01:13] in Iraq and they have a self-governing [01:16] area. They have a region that is [01:18] autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. [01:21] And then you have the Iranian Kurdish [01:23] groups. Okay? And many of them are based [01:26] in Iraq. They're kind of like in exile. [01:28] They're just over the border. And those [01:29] are the guys who want to take down the [01:32] Iranian regime. And when we we talked [01:35] about this that the week before the war [01:37] about five days before the war broke [01:38] out, five of these Iranian Kurdish [01:42] groups based in Iraq all unified in [01:45] their that you know they're all going to [01:47] come together and all going to work [01:48] together to bring down the Iranian [01:49] regime. Okay, now you might be wondering [01:51] why there's five different Iranian [01:54] Kurdish groups, but that's part of the [01:55] issue we're going to discuss a little [01:56] later in this video. But just understand [01:58] the difference. The Iraqi Kurds and the [02:00] Iranian Kurds don't necessarily get [02:02] along. They're You'd think that they'd [02:05] be working for the same goals, but [02:07] they're not because the Iraqi Kurds have [02:09] their own autonomous area. They want [02:11] things to be kept quiet. These are the [02:12] Kurds in Iraq who got their autonomy [02:16] after the fall of the Saddam Hussein [02:19] regime. They fought alongside the [02:20] Americans against Saddam. They also [02:22] fought against ISIS. And they have a [02:24] kind of self-governing area uh in Iraq. [02:28] Okay, so that's why it says here, it [02:30] remains unclear whether the well-trained [02:32] Kurdish militias in the self-governed [02:34] region of Iraqi Kurdistan will get [02:37] involved. Okay, some US intel reports [02:40] suggested that Iraqi Kurds were also [02:42] involved in the operation, meaning the [02:44] this ground invasion, although Aziz [02:46] Ahmmed, the top official in the Kurdish [02:49] region of Iraq, denied that Kurdish [02:52] fighters [02:54] had crossed. Okay, so he's saying, "No, [02:56] no, no, no, no. We weren't involved in [02:57] this. Oh, let me make this bigger for [02:59] you. They said, "No, no, no, no, no. We [03:01] weren't involved in this. Uh, we have [03:02] nothing to do with it." Okay, that's [03:04] basically what's happening here is the [03:07] uh one of the leaders of the Iraqi Kurds [03:09] is saying, "No, no, no, no. We had [03:10] nothing to do with it." Okay, on [03:12] Wednesday, the president of the Kurdish [03:14] region of Iraq reportedly talked to [03:17] Iran's foreign minister, the regime [03:20] foreign minister in Thran, and pledged [03:22] cooperation. [03:24] But then the Kurdish foray, the Kurdish [03:26] invasion happened soon after that. Okay, [03:32] this deployment meaning the the this [03:34] invasion comes after all six of the [03:38] major political factions representing [03:39] the Kurds in Iran joined a new coalition [03:42] on Wednesday aimed at forming an uh [03:45] aimed at the forming of an autonomous [03:47] territory within the country, the [03:49] group's leadership announced. Okay, so [03:51] before the war, five of these Iranian [03:53] Kurdish groups joined together. They [03:55] unified and a sixth one, there's I don't [03:57] know how many there are. A sixth one [03:59] joined them yesterday. So now they're [04:01] all unified and they're going to take [04:03] down the regime. And meanwhile, the [04:04] Iraqi Kurds are saying we got nothing to [04:06] do with this. Okay, that's the that's [04:08] the story here. And it talks about how [04:10] they've uh they've faced a lot of [04:12] oppression over the years and they see [04:13] an opportunity now to to get their own [04:17] to get their own autonomy in Iran. [04:20] That's what they're looking for. The and [04:22] it quotes this this Kurdish studies [04:25] expert, the Kurdish groups see what's [04:27] happening now as an opportunity in Iran [04:29] to unite and stand for [04:30] self-determination. The future depends [04:32] on who comes to lead Iran and how they [04:35] respond to the demands of the Kurds. We [04:38] could see a Kurdistan [04:40] operating within Iran or you could see [04:43] the next Yugoslavia which would mean [04:45] that the whole country would fall apart. [04:47] Okay. Um [04:51] and it mentions that the Kurds helped [04:53] fight ISIS and they they fought [04:55] alongside the Americans. [04:59] Okay. If the regime is still stable [05:00] after this, Iran will go after the [05:02] opposition and that would be bad for the [05:04] Kurds. We've already seen that Iran's [05:06] security forces show that they're [05:08] willing to fire at Iranians. So, this is [05:11] an expert, John Alterman, a Middle East [05:13] expert at the Center for International [05:15] Studies, pointing out that this could go [05:17] really sideways if the Iranian regime [05:19] doesn't fall and these Kurds end up [05:21] getting massacred by the Iranians. And [05:24] it talks about how how they're taking [05:26] this risk and and betting that the [05:28] Americans will will help them get their [05:30] autonomy uh or at least not stand in [05:32] their way. And then we have this [05:34] Jerusalem Post story reporting on the [05:35] same incident on this invasion [05:39] and it adds in an interesting point. [05:44] Look at this. Iran's intelligence [05:46] ministry said on Thursday, that's today, [05:49] that it targeted posts of separatist [05:51] groups. That's really referring to the [05:53] Kurds. They are separatists as we just [05:55] saw. They want to create their own [05:56] autonomous region in northwest Iran, [06:00] their own Kurdish area just like there [06:02] is in Iraq. Right? It targeted uh that [06:05] it targeted separatist groups who [06:06] intended to enter through Western [06:08] borders, adding that they sustained [06:10] heavy losses. The Iranian ministry [06:12] statement which which was carried by [06:14] state media said that Iranian forces are [06:16] cooperating with quote noble Kurds to [06:20] thwart the Israeli American plan to [06:22] attack Iranian soil. Additionally, the [06:24] IRGC claimed to have struck several [06:26] Kurdish bases in Iraq. [06:29] Okay. [06:32] Um, and Turkeykey's following the [06:34] situation. And, uh, yeah, [06:41] and here we get to where things get [06:44] messy. Aziz Ahmed, deputy chief of staff [06:46] to the prime minister of Kurdistan, [06:49] called the claims patently false. And [06:51] the claims he's talking about are claims [06:52] that Iraqi Kurds participated in the [06:56] invasion. Okay. And he he put a post on [06:59] Twitter where he said on X that not a [07:01] single Iraqi has crossed the border. [07:04] Iran's IRGC also denied the reports [07:06] stating that they're aimed at [07:08] undermining security and stability in [07:09] Iran. [07:11] Uh an official from the Democratic Party [07:14] of Iranian Kurdistan also dismissed the [07:17] report. Okay, so we have one of the some [07:22] Iranian Iranian Kurdish group is also [07:24] saying there was no invasion. The Iraqi [07:26] Kurds are saying we got nothing to do [07:27] with this. We have the Iraqi one of the [07:31] top Iraqi Kurdish leaders talking to the [07:33] Iranian foreign minister. [07:36] And [07:37] meanwhile, at the same time, we have an [07:40] IRGC base, meaning an Iranian regime [07:44] base was destroyed in an air strike in [07:47] Iran's Kurdistan province. And where was [07:49] it destroyed? It says huge columns of [07:51] smoke rose over the city of Banana this [07:53] morning after a base belonging to the [07:55] IRGC was destroyed. Where's Bana? So, [07:57] here's Banana right here. And Bana is [08:00] right by the border. This black line is [08:02] the border between Iran and Iraq. Here's [08:04] Bill. That's the air that's the uh the [08:08] the airport that was bombed by the [08:10] Iranians on the first day of the war. [08:12] They obviously wanted to take it away [08:13] from use by the Kurdish forces in the [08:15] area. [08:17] And in the video I made yesterday, I [08:19] pointed out that Sardasht, which also [08:21] had an Iranian base, an IRGC base, was [08:24] attacked uh was attacked a day before by [08:27] the Israelis and Americans. And there [08:29] was a prison uh breakout of Kurdish [08:33] prisoners from an Iranian prison in [08:34] Mahabad also. Okay. So Bana is another [08:37] border town. So you see that there's air [08:39] strikes being carried out here to [08:41] degrade the Iranian forces along the [08:43] border to allow for this Kurdish [08:45] invasion. And Trump has said that he's [08:48] fine with it. Right? What did Trump say [08:49] here? Trump backs wonderful Kurdish [08:51] incursion into Iran if they want to do [08:53] that. President Trump endorsed reported [08:56] plans by Kurdish groups to launch an [08:58] incursion into Iran in the hopes of [09:00] fermenting a broader popular uprising [09:02] against the Tran regime and potentially [09:05] earning their own state. Quote, I think [09:07] it's wonderful if they want to do that, [09:08] Trump told Reuters in a Thursday [09:11] interview. And you know, so Trump being [09:14] behind this uh can get a little bit [09:18] messy. Okay, and this is here where I'm [09:20] finally going to explain what's going [09:22] on. US President Donald Trump offered [09:24] extensive US air cover and other forms [09:27] of support for Iranian Kurdish [09:29] opposition groups this week. The [09:30] Washington Post reports. Okay, it says [09:33] that he spoke to the leaders and [09:37] it says here like this. The American [09:38] request to the Iraqi Kurds, listen [09:41] carefully. The American request to the [09:43] Iraqi Kurds is to open the way and not [09:47] obstruct the Iranian Kurds inside Iraq, [09:51] says senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [09:54] official, while also providing [09:56] logistical support. The PUK, the P the [10:00] Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is one of [10:02] the two major Iraqi Kurdish parties and [10:05] is generally seen as closer to Iran and [10:08] more distant from Israel than its rival, [10:12] the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the KDP. [10:16] The senior official says that Trump was [10:18] clear in his Sunday conversation with [10:20] Bafel Talibani, leader of the PUK, those [10:24] are the guys who are closer to Iran. He [10:26] told us the Kurds must choose a side in [10:28] this battle either with America and [10:30] Israel or with Iran. Trump also called [10:34] the KDP head Barzani. [10:37] He offered a similar message to them. [10:39] Very nice. [10:41] Iranian and Iraqi Kurds are in a [10:43] difficult situation. The US has backed [10:45] Kurds in Iraq and Syria, but has also [10:48] repeatedly prioritized the interests of [10:50] more powerful state adversaries of the [10:53] Kurds like in Syria, right, where the [10:55] Americans back the Ashara regime and the [10:57] Turkish agenda and and you know kind of [11:00] threw the Kurds under the bus. So the [11:02] Americans have betrayed the Kurds a few [11:04] times. Iraq's Kurds have reached an [11:06] uneasy modus vventi with Iran based on [11:09] the sides not backing attacks on the [11:12] other. Okay, so that's what I was [11:14] talking about before. The Iraqi Kurds [11:16] kind of cooperate with the Iranians. [11:18] They don't want problems with the with [11:20] the Shiites in Iraq and the and the [11:22] Iranianbacked militias that are there. [11:24] They want it to be quiet. Um they don't [11:27] want those attacks happening. They're [11:29] denying involvement in this. You have a [11:31] leader of the Iraqi Kurds reaching out [11:33] to the Iranian foreign ministers saying, [11:34] "We're going to work together." And then [11:36] meanwhile, you have Trump leaning on [11:38] them, saying, "Look, buddy, you got to [11:40] pick a side. You can't be cooperating [11:42] with the Iranians here. I need you to at [11:45] least not stand in the way of the [11:48] Iranian Kurds who are going to be [11:50] launching attacks on Iran from Iraqi [11:53] territory." [11:54] "Ke [11:56] are in a very delicate position," says [11:58] the senior PUK official. If this ground [12:01] offensive fails, we do not know what [12:03] Iran's reaction against the Kurdistan [12:05] region of Iraq would be. At the same [12:07] time, we cannot simply reject Trump's [12:09] request, especially when he personally [12:11] calls and asks for it. You see, you see [12:14] the tight spot that they're in. And the [12:16] bottom line is there's a lot of [12:18] different groups here. Look at this. [12:20] Regional officials in Washington also [12:22] commented on Kurdish groups. Turkey said [12:24] it was closely monitoring the activities [12:26] of the Kurdistan Free Life Party and [12:30] Iranian Kurdish opposition groups linked [12:32] to the Kurdistan Workers Party. [12:36] Okay. And there are a lot of different [12:39] Kurdish groups. So, let me pull back the [12:41] camera a little bit and and kind of sum [12:44] this up. Okay. Let's ask a very basic [12:48] question. 30,000 foot view. Let's back [12:50] up. Why don't the Kurds have autonomy? [12:53] There's 35 million Kurds and they're all [12:55] in one pretty much contiguous region. [12:57] About half of the Kurds in the world, [12:59] maybe a little less, are in Turkey. And [13:01] then, and that's a problem. They're [13:03] viewed as a hostile minority. They also [13:05] want their independence. Erdogan fears [13:07] them. There have been periods of time in [13:08] Turkey where it it basic he tries to [13:11] make it illegal to be Kurd. Like, you're [13:12] not allowed to uh speak publicly in [13:16] Kurdish. There's all kinds of crazy [13:18] things that have happened in Turkey to [13:19] the Kurds. But the Kurds are in Turkey, [13:23] uh, uh, Syria, Iraq, and and Iran. [13:27] That's where they're spread. And, and [13:29] they have this autonomous region in [13:30] Iraq. They have a sort of autonomous [13:32] area in in Syria, and that's what's [13:35] been, you know, been uh, under attack by [13:38] the Ashar regime over the last year or [13:40] so. And then you have these Iranian [13:43] Kurds who very much identify as Iranian, [13:45] but want to have their own, they want to [13:47] have their own autonomous area within [13:49] Iran. and they want to pick at the [13:50] carcass of the Yumrani regime or help [13:52] bring it down. And part of the problem [13:56] with the Kurds, as you see just from [13:57] what I've read to you, is that there's [13:59] so many different groups, they can't get [14:00] along with each other. And if you go all [14:02] the way back to the fall of the Ottoman [14:04] Empire when this whole region was being [14:07] carved up [14:09] and all these countries were being [14:10] created, you see before 1920, [14:15] before the end of the first world war, [14:16] before the fall of the of the Ottoman [14:18] Empire, there was no such thing as [14:19] Lebanon as a country. There was no such [14:21] thing as Syria. There was no such thing [14:23] as Jordan. I mean, there was I just got [14:26] a notification of a possible incoming [14:28] missile. So, let's see if we can finish [14:29] the video before the air ra siren goes. [14:32] So, none of these countries existed. It [14:34] was all just one big area that was just [14:36] the Ottoman Empire. And there were [14:38] tribes and and and different, you know, [14:40] different groups that lived in different [14:42] areas, but it was just one big swath [14:44] that was just owned by the Turks. The [14:46] and that was it was that way for [14:47] centuries. And then the Ottoman Empire [14:49] falls and these British and French [14:51] diplomats with some Americans involved [14:53] put maps on a table and they carve it up [14:56] and they take control of different areas [14:57] and they divide it up and create [14:58] different different kingdoms and and and [15:01] countries. So you have, you know, [15:02] suddenly you have a Saudi Arabia and a [15:04] Jordan and and an Iraq and a Syria and a [15:07] Lebanon, right? You have all these [15:08] different areas. [15:10] Okay, why didn't the Kurds get an [15:12] independent Kurdistan at the time? Well, [15:14] the answer is they couldn't get their [15:15] act together. I mean, there's a few [15:17] reasons why they did it, but the main [15:18] reason is, if you go back into the [15:20] history books, is that there was no one [15:22] really representing the Kurds because [15:23] there were so many different Kurdish [15:24] groups and they couldn't get along with [15:25] each other. And the and the Western [15:27] diplomats basically said, "The heck with [15:28] you guys. You can't get your act [15:30] together." And they basically cut them [15:31] out of the deal. And the Kurds are still [15:34] having that same problem today. They [15:35] can't get along with each other. And to [15:36] make matters worse, most Iranian people [15:39] don't want the Kurds to carve out a [15:42] piece of Iran and go independent. So if [15:45] the Kurds are being armed by the [15:46] Americans and the Israelis and being [15:48] encouraged to come in and topple the [15:49] Iranian regime, that actually is [15:51] something that most Iranian people, [15:54] those who want the regime to fall, are [15:56] very much against. They don't want the [15:59] fall of the regime to devolve into a [16:01] type of civil war. They want something [16:03] stable and unified, even if it means [16:06] that the transition is is uh is, you [16:09] know, takes longer. They they don't want [16:11] this Kurdish incursion. and you know [16:13] because the Kurdish are are you know [16:15] they got weapons and they're going to [16:16] come in and they're going to be [16:17] fighting. That's not what most Iranian [16:19] people want. Um so this is going to get [16:22] really messy really fast, but that's [16:24] what's going on right now with the Kurds [16:27] in northwest Iran. It seems that some of [16:30] them have crossed the border. Everything [16:33] points to the fact that that Trump is [16:35] backing them somewhat publicly saying, [16:37] "Oh, it's wonderful if they want to do [16:38] that." But also, we get these reports [16:40] that he's spoken to these people. He's [16:42] had conversations with them. He's told [16:44] the Iraqi Kurds to not stand in the way [16:46] of the Iranian Kurds. And the Iranian [16:48] Kurds are are ready to fight. Is it too [16:51] early to try to have them go in and [16:52] fight and bring down the regime? Are [16:54] they going to get slaughtered by the [16:55] IRGC? It remains to be seen, but that's [16:58] the lay of the land right now. As [17:00] confusing as it is, that's the lay of [17:02] the land with the situation of the Kurds [17:04] in this war. Um, thanks for watching. [17:07] Thanks for promoting the channel. Thanks [17:09] for telling everyone about it. You know, [17:11] I I'm so grateful to all of you for [17:13] helping this channel become a success. [17:14] And of course, please please check out [17:16] all the great content we're putting up [17:18] at the Israel 365 News YouTube channel. [17:21] We've been putting up some very [17:22] important videos the last couple days [17:23] about some of the broader implications [17:25] of this war in Iran. So, go check that [17:27] out. Israel 365 News on YouTube. God [17:30] bless.
