The United States is reportedly considering deploying ethnic minorities including Kurds as ground forces to overthrow the Iranian regime.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing multiple U.S. government officials, that Washington is examining plans to use Iran's long-oppressed minority groups as "proxy ground forces."
A former Pentagon official from the first Trump administration said, "You can't achieve regime change without ground forces. The U.S. could deploy special operations forces inside or around Iran to rally opposition groups."
Ethnic minorities including Kurds, Baluchis, and Arabs comprise roughly half of Iran's 93 million population. These groups have faced discrimination and persecution from the Iranian government, partly because they practice Sunni Islam rather than the state religion of Shia Islam.
U.S. officials say Washington has developed plans to utilize these minorities as ground forces to deploy into Iran. One source explained the Trump administration's strategy: Kurdish armed forces would engage Iranian security forces and pin them down, allowing Kurds and other civilians to take to the streets and revolt without risk of massacre.
President Trump contacted Mustafa Hijri, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), on June 1, following U.S. airstrikes against Iran. The KDPI is among groups targeted by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Trump has continued meeting with other minority group leaders since then.
CNN reported the CIA is supplying weapons to Kurdish militias to spread anti-government protests in Iran. A senior Kurdish official said, "Iranian Kurdish rebel forces will participate in ground operations in western Iran within days. The militias are expecting support from the United States and Israel."
The Trump administration has reportedly concluded that armed minority groups including Kurds could play a significant role in toppling the Iranian regime. Kurdish forces are known to maintain substantial military strength along the Iraq-Iran border.