Why Washington’s Kurdish Gambit Could Backfire in Iran

A proposed U.S. plan to arm Iranian Kurdish forces to destabilize Iran should be abandoned entirely as it is strategically flawed. This gambit would likely backfire by inflaming Persian nationalism and strengthening the regime's hardliners, rather than toppling them. The strategy would also alienate key regional states like Turkey, Iraq, and Pakistan, who fear the precedent of the U.S. arming ethnic separatists could threaten their own territorial integrity. Ultimately, instead of fracturing Iran, the policy would fracture the coalition against it, handing Tehran a significant strategic advantage for free.