Kurdish residents of northeast Syria warned Iran’s Kurds against aligning with the US to fight the Iranian government, citing their own experience in Syria as a lesson.
Reuters reported on Sunday night, March 8, that Syrian Kurds, with U.S. support, had fought against the “Islamic State group” and established autonomous regions. However, following a Syrian army offensive, Washington urged them to integrate with government forces.
Ahmed Barakat, head of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party in Syria, said that Iranian Kurdish forces should exercise “extreme caution”.
Barakat added that the decision was ultimately up to them, but he believed that “accepting the invitation of the United States and being considered the spearhead in confronting or weakening the Iranian regime is not, at present, in the best interest of the Kurds of Iran.”
According to the report, Israel has been holding its own talks with Iranian Kurdish insurgent groups based in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan for around a year.
Kurds are an ethnic and Sunni Muslim group spread across the borders of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Armenia. Their aspirations for autonomy or an independent state have so far not been realized in Iran, Turkey, or Syria.