Fox News Reports ‘Thousands’ of Iranian Kurds Based in Iraq Have ‘Launched a Ground Offensive Into Iran’

Fox News reported on Wednesday that “thousands” of Iranian Kurds based in Iraq have “launched a ground offensive into Iran” following reports that the Trump administration was coordinating with Kurdish militias in the region to try to help destabilize the Iranian regime.

“Fox News Alert: big breaking news in the last 30 minutes. U.S. officials are telling Fox that thousands of Iraqi Kurds have launched a ground offensive into Iran. Bill Roggio is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bill, what do you make of this news with the Iraqi Kurds?” began host Will Cain.

“Well, it’s very soon, but this appears to be an Iranian Kurdish group known as the PJAK. This group is actually listed by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization—also listed by Iran and Turkey. It’s akin to the PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which operates in Iraq and Syria. We have to be very cautious about dealing with groups like this,” Roggio replied, adding:

There have been a lot of problems. I know there’s been a lot of talk about arming the Kurds. Many of these Kurdish separatist groups that are in Iran already are armed. Look, if we’re going to work with them, I would just highly suggest the Trump administration remove that terrorist designation. It’s a really bad look. We did this in Syria with the PKK. It’s really bad for the United States. It really hurts our sanctions regime when we’re trying to say these groups are terrorists, but we’re going to support them.

Cain followed up, “And it raises questions about the long-term expectations of groups like this that enter the fight. But on the short-term note, Bill, what kind of effect can they have on the IRGC or whatever decentralized retaliation there is right now from Iran?”

“No. It certainly will hurt the Iranian government. I mean, the problem here is the Iranian regime is horrible. We want them to lose. I just personally have problems with getting in bed with groups like the PDK or the PJAK,” Roggio replied, adding:

But it’ll hurt them. They can have limited effect. These are regional-based groups along the border. But anything that can hurt the Iranian regime is beneficial to the Iranian people. But we have to keep in mind, too, with a group like this: Turkey does not like these Kurdish separatist groups. And we don’t want to give the Turks a reason to mess around and sabotage any of our efforts inside of Iran.

Later on in the day, Fox News’s Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin added, “A senior U.S. official tells Fox that thousands of Kurds have crossed from Iraq into Iran to launch a ground offensive. Their goal is to give the Iranian people the confidence to rise up. These are Kurdish-Iranian militias entering from Iraq. According to U.S. Central Command, in its first 24 hours, the U.S. military operation was twice the scale of Shock and Awe at the start of the Iraq War.”

Griffin later concluded, “Today at the White House, Karoline Levitt was asked about the administration arming the Kurds to inspire a popular uprising in Iran. Her response, quote: ‘Any report suggesting the president has agreed to any such plan is completely false and should not be written.’ Kurdish leaders in Iraq have denied that any Iraqi Kurds have crossed the border.

Griffin later provided a clarification to her earlier report.

“I am told these are Iranian Kurds who fled in the past and have been living in Iraq. They are returning with the hopes of starting an uprising so that the people of Iran feel comfortable rising up against the remnants of the regime. US official confirms to Fox News that thousands of Kurds have launched a ground offensive in Iran. They are crossing in from Iraq. There are conflicting reports tonight. Will update when we know more.”

Watch above via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!