WHY IRAN IS TARGETING KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT - The US must change its policies towards Iran and Shiite Iraq
By: Joseph Puder
Friday, January 19, 2024
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in what appeared as retaliation against last month’s alleged Israeli strike in Damascus that killed Sader Seyed Razi Mousavi, a top adviser to the IRGC in Syria, targeted the Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) capital of Erbil with a barrage of missiles. The IRGC missile attack killed at least four Kurdish civilians, and six others were injured, some of them were listed in critical condition.
The IRGC attack was described by the Iranians as retaliation over ” The plot of the Israeli regime spy agency hatched to assassinate Iranian and resistance commanders.” The KRG Security Council disputed the IRGC claim, pointing out that Iran ” Always uses unnecessary excuses to attack Erbil,” adding that “Erbil as a stable area, never has been a source of threat to any party.”
The Ayatollah’s regime in Tehran has oppressed its Kurdish minority for years. One of the victims of that oppression was Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was beaten and died because of allegedly violating the hijab laws. This reporter had befriended a leader of a Kurdish-Iranian party/militia who had found refuge in the KRG territory. He spent some time in the US in order to bring the plight of the Kurds in Iran to the attention of American policymakers.
The IRGC is targeting the KRG, and Erbil primarily, because of its hosting of US military bases and its long-standing friendship with the Jewish state. The IRGC affiliated Iraqi-Shiite militias have attacked US bases in KRG territory over 100 times in recent months alone. Tehran has been too cowardly to directly attack US bases and has therefore sub-contracted the Iraqi Shiite militias. This time, though, Iran attacked directly, and used the subterfuge of attacking alleged “Mossad headquarters.”
The Barzani clan (leading the KRG) has had a long and friendly relationship with Israel, which is another motive for attacking Erbil.
The Ayatollahs are bent on avenging the elimination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of the IRGC who was killed in January 2020. Soleimani was the chief architect of Iran’s terror campaign against American forces in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East.
Iran is determined to expel the US from the region and its nuclear ambitions certainly have much to do with eventually challenging the US and Israel. Iran is hostile to the KRG, accusing the Erbil Kurdish government of sheltering Iranian-Kurdish freedom fighters, and American troops.
The Biden administration strongly condemned Iran’s attacks in Erbil. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller offered condolences to the families of those killed and added, “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability. We support the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.” Regrettably, these State Department condemnations do not deter Iran and the IRGC from continued attacks on American interests.
Erbil’s governor, Omed Khoshnaw, speaking at a press conference declared, ” Talks about Mossad having headquarters in Erbil are unfounded. We assert that the site targeted in Erbil doesn’t nestle Israeli headquarters, rather a US consulate under construction.” The US unwillingness to confront Iran militarily continues to encourage Iranian aggression https://shafaq.com/en/Kurdistan/Erbil-s-Governor-no-Mossad-headquarters-in-Erbilagainst the US. It is also high time that the US understands that it has no friend in the Baghdad Shiite led government, which is subservient to Iran. It would wise for Washington to end its senseless support for a unitary Iraq, and support the independence of the KRG, which is friendly to the US.
The Mossad may or may not have a presence in Erbil, however, Israel and the Kurds have enjoyed a long friendship and cooperation. In the 1960’s, Israel was the only country that openly supported the Kurdish right to independence. As a result, waving Israeli flags became a frequent occurrence in the Kurdish region and a symbol of unity between Jews and Kurds.
Should the Kurds gain their independence, they would most definitely join the Abraham Accords. Many obstacles remain, however, for this to happen. In the meantime, Kurds will continue their long-standing ties with Israel, but for now, these ties will remain “covert” because of Kurdish fear of Iran and its loyalist Shiite supporters within the Iraqi government.
Israel’s hands are tied due to the lack of interest or commitment by the US administration to an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. The US and its allies regularly emphasize the territorial integrity of the Iraqi state, neglecting to mention that an overwhelming majority of Kurds reject being part of the Iranian controlled Iraqi state.
The problem with the US policy in Iraq is that its previous objectives are incommensurate with Iranian goals. The objective of a democratic, prosperous, and unified Iraq, especially one aligned with the US, has incentivized Iran to not only increase its influence in Baghdad, but to diminish and expel the US from Iraq altogether.
Given the corrupt Iraqi politicians and Shiite sectarianism, the US has for all intents and purposes lost Iraq to the Ayatollahs of Iran. It is therefore the right time to support Kurdish independence and leave behind the fallacy of Iraq’s territorial integrity. Iraq was never an organic state, and Baghdad is more than ever a failing state. Finally, Iran’s aggression against the US must be met with direct military action rather than with words.