Trump says US armed Iranian dissidents via Kurds, Kurdish groups deny claim

President Donald Trump has said the United States tried to covertly limb Iranian protesters done Kurdish intermediaries weeks earlier the existent warfare was launched, adjacent arsenic Washington was engaged successful talks with Tehran.

“We sent guns to the protesters, a batch of them,” Fox News quoted Trump arsenic saying precocious connected Sunday, adding that the US president believed that the Kurds kept the guns for themselves.

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The comments travel amid the US-Israel warfare connected Iran, which was launched connected February 28, weeks aft demonstrations erupted implicit the precocious outgo of living. The protests, 1 of the largest successful decades, were triggered by the worsening economical concern pursuing decades of US sanctions.

Media reports, including by Israel’s Channel 12, during the protests successful January, besides claimed that demonstrators were being equipped by “foreign” actors.

Trump besides claimed that, during the protests, Iran “slaughtered” immoderate 45,000 civilians, Fox News reported. His claims could not beryllium independently verified.

Iranian authorities accidental 3,117 radical were killed during the weeks of protests, rejecting United Nations and rights groups’ claims that authorities forces were responsible. Iranian officials person said hundreds of constabulary officials were killed and authorities properties damaged by the protesters, whom they dubbed “rioters”, “saboteurs” and “terrorists”. It has since executed respective radical connected charges of participating successful the protests astatine the behest of overseas enemies.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said successful precocious January that it had verified 6,872 deaths and was investigating much than 11,000 further cases, portion a UN peculiar rapporteur has suggested the decease toll could transcend 20,000.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claimed figures.

‘Not adjacent a azygous bullet’

Several Iranian Kurdish absorption groups denied Trump’s assertion of arming them, Rudaw, a broadcaster based successful the semi-autonomous Kurdish portion of Iraq, reported.

Mohammed Nazif Qaderi, a elder authoritative from the absorption Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), told Rudaw that “those statements made are baseless and we haven’t received immoderate weapons. The weapons we person are from 47 years ago, and we obtained them connected the Islamic Republic’s battlefield, and we bought immoderate from the market.”

“Our argumentation is not to marque demonstrations convulsive and usage harsh methods, alternatively we judge we indispensable marque our demands successful a peaceful and civilian mode without weapons,” Qaderi was quoted arsenic saying.

Other Kurdish Iranian absorption parties, including the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and the Kurdistan National Army, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), besides denied Trump’s claim, Rudaw reported.

“Donald Trump’s connection is unclear to us. What is determination is that we arsenic our service person successful nary mode received weapons from the US oregon immoderate different country, not adjacent a azygous bullet,” Hamno Naqshbandi, a subordinate of the wide bid of the Kurdistan National Army, told the outlet.

In aboriginal March, respective parties besides denied media reports that their forces had crossed into Iran to combat Tehran, the Kurdish outlet reported.

A Fox News study had past quoted an unnamed US authoritative alleging that “thousands of Iraqi Kurds” had launched a crushed violative into Iran.

At that time, conscionable days aft the US-Israel warfare connected Iran began, the US was successful talks with absorption Kurdish forces in a bid to limb them and foment an uprising successful Iran, according to aggregate media reports.

Kurdish rebels person for years opposed Tehran and carried retired galore attacks successful Iran’s Kurdistan state arsenic good arsenic different occidental provinces. They run on the Iraq-Iran border, with Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish minorities sharing adjacent taste ties.

The US spy bureau CIA besides has a past of moving with Kurdish groups successful neighbouring Iraq, which the US invaded successful 2003.

The Kurds are a radical of people indigenous to the Mesopotamian plains and adjacent highlands, which contiguous agelong crossed southeastern Turkiye, northeastern Syria, bluish Iraq, northwestern Iran and southwestern Armenia.

Kurdish equipped groups successful Turkiye and Syria person signed deals to extremity the equipped rebellion, portion the Iraqi Kurds tally the semi-autonomous region.