Al Jazeera:

By Shola Lawal

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.

“Instinctively, it feels like a bad move,” analyst Neil Quillian of the United Kingdom-based think tank Chatham House told Al Jazeera of the plan, warning that it might cause more internal conflict in Iran.

“It is an afterthought and has not featured in any major planning to support any 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:

CNN reported on Wednesday that the CIA is negotiating with multiple Kurdish groups to aid them in an uprising.

US officials told CNN the aim would be to use the Kurds to stretch Iranian forces and allow popular protests, or help them seize and control northern Iran, and thus create a buffer for Israel.

Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), on Tuesday, CNN reported, quoting a Kurdish official. In the coming days, Kurdish groups in Iran are set to 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-Israeli bombing campaign on Iran began, Trump spoke to the leaders of two Kurdish groups in Iraq: Masoud Barzani, who leads 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 lobbied for the US-Kurds connection for months. Israel has established intelligence networks among 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 US objectives and to discuss joint support for building a strong partnership between the United States and Iraq”.

No further details were given.

Analyst Quilliam said the plan could fuel domestic conflict inside Iran by pitching opposition groups against each other, rather than helping them team up to challenge “the remnants of the regime”.

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