The key facts
- Qubad Talabani said the US never planned to send the Iranian-Kurdish opposition into Iran
- Iran carried out more than 1,000 drone and missile strikes on Kurdistan from February 28, according to the KRG
- The Kurdistan Region has been unable to form a government for two years after the parliamentary elections
Denial of US plans and Trump's 'mysterious weapons'
Deputy Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Qubad Talabani in an interview with The National, given in Abu Dhabi, said that using the Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the region against Tehran 'was never part of the American plan.' According to him, the Kurdish authorities learned of this early on and passed it on to both Tehran and Washington. Reports about the possible involvement of the opposition in a campaign against Iran emerged at the height of the war, and Donald Trump spoke publicly about weapons delivered to the Kurds.
Disagreements over weapons deliveries
In May, Trump said he was 'disappointed' with the Kurds: according to him, they were sent weapons with ammunition that were supposed to be handed over, but the Kurds 'held onto it.' Talabani replied that he did not know which weapons were meant: 'I know it wasn't given to me. I know it wasn't given to us. I think whoever gave the weapons knows who they gave them to.' The Kurdish authorities, he said, warned the opposition groups not to use the region as a staging ground for attacks on Iranian territory — 'and, fortunately, they did not do so.' This mattered also because reports of the opposition's involvement could have provoked new Iranian strikes on the region.
A peace process on the Turkish model
Last week, Iran's ambassador to Baghdad said that Iraq had agreed to expel the Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups from the region or hand them over to Tehran; the groups themselves denied receiving any such notification. Talabani did not answer directly whether such a plan exists, but pointed to a diplomatic path: the peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party as a possible model for a settlement between Tehran and the opposition. He noted that the regional government had supported the Turkish process — including logistically — but stressed that it must be led by the parties themselves. According to the KRG, since February 28 Iran has carried out more than 1,000 drone and missile strikes on the region, and attacks on the opposition groups continued even after the war ended.
Disarming the groups and the internal crisis
Talabani also condemned attacks on Iraq's neighbors, including the UAE, launched from Iraqi territory during the war, and called for placing the pro-Iranian armed groups under state control: 'The disarmament process has begun,' he said, adding that Iraq's new government is putting pressure on the groups. He advocated for Kurdish leaders to take part in decision-making in Baghdad, 'because that is where decisions are made.' At the same time, he acknowledged the internal crisis: two years have passed since the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan, but no government has been formed due to disagreements between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. 'It is a disgrace. Two years as a lame-duck deputy prime minister is not the most pleasant thing,' Talabani noted, expressing hope that the next government will be better than its predecessors.
