The US is reportedly in talks with Iranian opposition leaders and Kurdish militias about a potential CIA-backed coup in the Islamic Republic.
According to CNN, the intelligence agency has engaged in “active discussions” with Kurdish forces in Iraq, focusing on the prospect of providing them with military support.
US President Trump has previously spoken openly about regime change as an aim of the ongoing war with Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, urging the Iranian people to seize their “hour of freedom”.
The US has previously cooperated closely with Kurdish forces in Syria as part of the civil war, with the small ethnic minority regarded as one of the key drivers of the collapse of Islamic State in the country and the toppling of the Assad regime.
Iran’s Kurdish community has several militias, made up of thousands of troops, operating on the border between the Islamic Republic and Iraq and, since the US strikes began, they have come under intense bombardment from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
One “senior Iranian Kurdish official” reportedly told CNN that Kurdish factions are expecting to form part of a ground offensive in western Iran “in the coming days”.
"We believe we have a big chance now,” the official said.
According to the report, one proposed plan is for Kurdish troops to pin down IRGC security forces, making it easier for ordinary Iranians to overthrow the government without fear of the sort of brutal suppression seen with anti-regime protests earlier this year.
The prospect of seizing territory in some northern areas to create a buffer zone between Iran and Israel has also reportedly been proposed.
Either course of action, though, would require cooperation from Iraqi Kurds, whose territory in the country could be used as a platform for attacks.
CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas suggested that the US “is clearly trying to jump-start” the process of regime change, adding: “The Iranian people are generally unarmed as a whole and unless the security services collapse, it’ll be difficult for them to take over unless someone arms them.
"I believe the US is hopeful that this will inspire others on the ground in Iran to do the same.”
The CIA declined to comment on CNN’s story.
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