Israeli attacks on Iran receive full support from northern Iraq's Kurdish community

United News of India

5 hours ago

Tel Aviv/Baghdad, June 18 (UNI) The Kurdish community in northern Iraq have fully backed Israel's attacks on Iran, a Kurdish journalist based in Erbil told The Times of Israel.
'Among many Kurds, there's a sense of quiet approval, some would even say jubilation, about Israel targeting Iran,' says the journalist.
'You see this mostly on social media, where people are openly expressing satisfaction.
'This sentiment is rooted in deep resentment toward the Iranian regime and its role in suppressing Kurdish aspirations both inside Iran and in Iraq through its proxies. So, when Iran gets hit, many Kurds see it as a blow to one of their main oppressors.'
He said that some Kurds have also mocked Iran, by saying they'll take a vacation there after the conflict's end.
However, the Kurdish leaders in Iraq's Kurdistan have largely kept silent over the issue.
'It's a sensitive topic, of course,' explained the journalist. 'Speaking up too strongly could provoke Tehran, while staying silent keeps the door open for quiet diplomacy and self-preservation. Most of them are likely watching the developments closely but choosing to stay out of it publicly.
'There are unconfirmed rumours that many of the Kurdish leaders have left the capital city of Erbil to undisclosed locations, because they fear Iran would hit them in their retaliation strikes.'
Many Kurds, especially younger ones, are hoping Israel's strikes lead to a chain reaction that ends with regime change in Iran, according to the Kurdish journalist: 'They believe a weakened or collapsed Iranian regime would shift the balance of power inside Iraq too, reducing the grip of the Iran-backed Shia militias and potentially improving the Kurdistan Region's standing with Baghdad.
'There's a long-held frustration about how the Iraqi government has treated the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government), and most Kurds see Iranian influence as the main driver of that marginalisation.'
Reportedly, Iran is also seemingly worried by the possibility that the Iranian Kurdish opposition groups may use the current situation to their advantage to infiltrate from Iraqi Kurdistan back into Iran, and launch attacks there, opening another front on Iran, at a time when its forces are stretched.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday the importance of preventing 'any exploitation by ill-wishers of both countries to destabilize border areas,' according to the Kurdish readout.