Iranian Kurds deny receiving US weapons to arm Iran's protesters

“We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. “And I think the Kurds took the guns.” Siamand Moeini, a senior figure in the armed Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), denied the report. “We as PJAK, as I know, have not received anything. As for others, I cannot answer,” he told Middle East Eye. Hana Yazdanpanah, a foreign relations coordinator for the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), said that they still have their “old Kalashnikov that we fought ISIS [the Islamic State group] with for five years and the weapons they abandoned after its defeat”. “We have received no single weapon from the US at this time,” she added. In early March, days after the US and Israel launched the war on Iran, Trump told Reuters that he would back Kurdish forces launching an offensive against Iran. This came amidst media reports that the CIA was arming the Kurds. However, he later backtracked and told reporters that he did not want the Kurds to get involved: “They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them I don’t want them to go in.” Iraqi Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani, in an earlier interview with MEE, also dismissed western media reports that Iraqi Kurds were helping Iranian Kurds cross the border to fight the Iranians. 'Who would receive these weapons?' The conflicting statements by the US administration have surprised leaders of Iranian Kurdish parties, who have a force of around 6,000 armed fighters, but have not entered the US-Israeli war on Iran, which started on 28 February. In late December, nationwide anti-government protests swept Iran, lasting around two weeks before being violently suppressed by state forces amid an internet blackout. Shukriya Bradost, an Iranian Kurdish Middle East security expert, told MEE that during these protests, the Iranian Kurdish parties, who have relations with civil organisations in Iran, did not receive any weapons. Iraqi Kurdish commander says there are no plans to invade Iran Read More » So far in the current war, there have been no reported anti-government protests in Iran, nor any armed attacks by Iranians on security forces. “Who would receive these weapons and what was the plan for the protesters? To start a civil war or to fight back? The protesters who don’t know how to use weapons or do not have any training,” Bradost said. According to Amnesty International, the Iranian authorities carried out massacres of thousands of protesters on 8 and 9 January. The Iranian government, meanwhile, said hundreds of security forces were killed in clashes with protesters. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), based in northern Iraq, also denied receiving and sending weapons to “our people in Rojhalat [Iranian Kurdistan]”. “A proof of this is that we cannot send arms through Iraq to our people,” said Mustafa Mawloudi, PDKI deputy secretary-general, adding that this would create legal problems. He also stressed that protesters cannot demonstrate with weapons: “That would be a war, not a protest.” Kako Alyar, a member of the Politburo of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, told MEE that they were not aware of the comments made by Trump. “We weren't in touch during the protests regarding giving weapons to the Kurds, and the Komala party has not received any weapons,” Alyar said. Attacks on Kurdish bases Babasheikh Hosseini, the secretary-general of Iraq-based Khabat Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle, also denied holding any official meetings with the Americans. “There have been some talks with mediators with one or two friends, but we have not sat down for a meeting,” he said. Iran war: Why US allies are suffering more than its enemies Read More » “As far as our weapons, most of them were destroyed, because the Iranian regime has bombarded our base. Our money, weapons and equipment have been burned and destroyed.” On 13 March, the party lost two members when their positions in the Bashiqa Mountains, northeast of Mosul, were targeted by drones. According to PDKI, in total, more than 650 missiles and drones have been launched towards the Kurdistan Region of Iraq since 28 February, causing 14 deaths and wounding 93 people. Five of the casualties were members of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, including from PAK, Komala, and Khabat. Three drone attacks on the PDKI’s bases in Koya, in the Erbil province, were also reported on Sunday, a Kurdish security source said. War on Iran Erbil, Iraq News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0