President Trump’s decision not to make a quick decision on strikes on Iran makes sense given the enormous risks to the U.S. of joining Israel in its war against Iran.
But in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region there was some regret that he had not acted more quickly.
A few hours before Trump’s announcement, the leader of a small Kurdish group told NBC News that people would rise up “if Iran is weakened.”
Hossein Panah Zadeh, head of a socialist nationalist PAK Party Azadi Kurdistan party, said American support for an uprising would be crucial. “We would want the U.S. to back us,” he added.
Israel has been openly advocating for regime change in neighboring Iran, which is also home to a large Kurdish population, many of whom have been fighting for regime change for decades.
Most recently, protests about Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died after being taken into police custody for not wearing a headscarf, were brutally repressed.
So while it is unlikely that Israel will not stop its attacks while Trump makes his decision, for the moment, at least one part of the opposition Iranian regime, will also bide its time.
