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It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep in Washington, D.C.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
And I'm Leila Fadel in Irbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. And I'm here with our international correspondent Jane Arraf, who has covered Iraq and the Kurdistan region since the 1990s. And, Jane, I just want to hone in on the headlines we've been seeing over the past several days that the armed Iranian Kurdish opposition in Iraq are mobilizing to go into Iran. What's actually happening right now?
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: That was really dramatic, wasn't it?
FADEL: Yeah.
ARRAF: But it seems to be wrong, so let's start there. I mean, it came about, as you know, because first, President Trump said, yeah, good idea. I would be for this. And then two days later, he reversed himself, saying he would not be in favor of these armed groups going in. In the meantime, there were conversations, it seems, with President Trump and some of the Kurdish leaders here, who told him it would be a really, really, really bad idea because they would need American airpower. It would put this region at risk. And it's entirely unclear as to whether it would make any difference anyway if they went in.
FADEL: All this attention on these groups is why we went to one of the military camps.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
FADEL: It was a windy day. The camp is tucked in the rolling hills outside of the capital. There's barbed wire fencing that surrounds this open area, and there are shipping containers that are being used as sleeping quarters and offices. We wait in one of those for a military commander from the armed Iranian Kurdish group the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK. It's a group the U.S. trained to fight the Islamic State in Iraq in 2015.
REBAZ SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) We need to be quick and sharp.
FADEL: In walks 38-year-old Rebaz Sherifi (ph) flanked by two of his fighters.
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) We are concerned right now that we're doing this...
FADEL: He's been fighting in the Kurdish mountains along the Iranian border since he was 16, wounded multiple times. Now his fighters are under attack from Iran in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli war.
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) It has been nine times attacked by Iran.
FADEL: You've been attacked by Iran nine times?
They've been in Iraq for decades after being exiled from Iran over their fight for minority rights in a Kurdish state within Iran. And their presence has always been this point of contention between these neighboring countries, so they're limited in what they can say and do without inviting Iran's wrath on their Kurdish Iraqi hosts. But with the war on the Islamic republic next door, they're emboldened.
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) At the end, Iranian regime will fall, and we are going into Iranian Kurdistan. The end could be now or in one year, but the Americans will support us, and we are going.
FADEL: When you say, we're going to go, no matter what - in the days ahead? In the weeks ahead?
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) We don't know yet when, but I'm sure we will. I'm sure we will. And at the end, we can liberate our people. And we know our people. They will accept us. They love us. We will go back to them.
FADEL: And when you say, we will liberate our people, are you envisioning an independent Kurdistan, or are you talking about all of Iran?
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) All the Kurds, they want independent state. If you ask me, I want an independent Kurdistan.
FADEL: Are you actually preparing? Are you arming, training, getting supplies, weapons and other things?
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) What we have right now is from the ISIS fight. That's the only thing that we have. No country or no parties has promised us or even talked to us about this kind of supplies and things like that. During the ISIS fight, anywhere there were ISIS, we were going and we were taking all the ammunitions and guns and things like that.
FADEL: From ISIS?
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) From ISIS. The Iranian during 2015 were telling the Kurdistan regional government that the PAK, this group, they are not fighting ISIS, but they are practicing to fight us in future. And they are right.
FADEL: Wow.
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) They were smart. They knew what we were doing.
FADEL: What are you waiting for to go in? How do you know it's time?
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) Right now, inside Iran and inside Rojhelat (ph), the Kurdistan of Iran, we are seeing the war, and there's American and Israeli airstrikes. It's happening on a daily basis. So we are waiting for now to see for the right time when the war on this air is finished, and then ground operation starts. So far, it's not that time.
FADEL: At the end of our hurried interview, Rebaz Sherifi quickly walks us to the site of an Iranian drone strike on this camp.
So we're walking past some more shipping containers that are made into makeshift shelters, and one of them is basically curled up. So all the corrugated metal, you can hear it flapping in the wind, and it's blackened.
Before we leave, he shows us the remnants of other drones fired into this camp.
SHERIFI: (Through interpreter) This one, you can know 20 seconds before it comes. This one is three seconds.
FADEL: OK. On that note, I think I'm good to go.
So, Jane, you heard there. They're being attacked. But I didn't see any sign that this group was ramping up and ready to go to war. It seemed quite small as a fighting force. Are you seeing signs of any mobilization?
ARRAF: I guess I do have to say that if we were seeing signs of mobilization, that probably would not be a great strategy on their part. But having said that, no, it doesn't seem that they are mobilizing, both because they're here as guests of the Kurdish leadership and the Iraqi Kurds have made clear to them, you are Kurds. We will give you safe haven, but you cannot engage in any operations on Iran. Because this is a huge border, and the Kurds themselves - the Iraqi Kurds - would be hugely at risk if that happened. So as for mobilization, they don't have the weapons. They don't have the air support, and they don't have the political approval from the Kurds who are hosting them.
FADEL: And what about in Iran - I mean, the idea of Iranian Kurds going in to liberate the country?
ARRAF: You know, this is a really poignant situation, as it is everywhere where you have large groups of people who have been exiled for decades from their home countries. But the Kurds are one of several ethnic minorities, a large minority, but still a minority in Iran. Iran, as we know, is a huge country with a 90 million population, and it's a complicated place. Having the Kurds go in on their own would set it up for absolute chaos because it's not clear they would be welcomed by other Iranians.
FADEL: Everyone's wondering - where does this go next? What is the next phase of the war?
ARRAF: Well, I guess that's the really scary part, isn't it? Because there isn't a clear successor if we're talking about regime change that the U.S. and Israel want. There isn't a united opposition outside the country or seemingly inside the country. So everything points to - if this continues, everything seems to point to even more chaos, which is not just chaos in Iran, a huge and powerful country, but chaos for the entire region, as we've been seeing.
FADEL: Jane Arraf, our international correspondent. Jane, thank you so much for this insight, and it's been so nice reporting with you out here.
ARRAF: Oh, it's been amazing having you back, Leila.
(SOUNDBITE OF JATINDER SINGH DURHAILAY'S "TREE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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