The strengthening of relations between Israel and Iraqi Kurds began with the onset of the Kurdish rebellion, also known as the Barzani uprising against the Iraqi regime, which lasted from 1961 to 1970.
ALWAGHT- In the days following the missile strike carried out by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on the Mossad headquarters in northern Iraq, Arab and Kurdish media outlets have actively engaged in the strategic broadcasting of reports. These efforts align with the stances of political leaders in Erbil and certain diplomatic authorities in the central government of Baghdad. The reports systematically counter Tehran's assertions and provide evidence supporting the lack of a connection between the targeted site and the individuals killed in the attack aimed at Mossad and Israel.
Within this media operation, the deceased individual known as "Pishro Dizayi" is presented as a mere businessman, the owner of two prominent companies, namely the "Falcon Group" and the "Empire World." Even in a notably dubious video shared by Kurdish media, featuring statements from a woman identified as Pishro Dizayi's wife conversing with officials from the central government's investigative team regarding the night of the attack, it creates an image of an ordinary household and family. While addressing the deaths of all "family members," these media outlets fail to address the question of how this woman escaped unharmed from the impact of multiple missiles. Furthermore, after just a few hours, she openly discusses the incident in Arabic and English. Notably, these outlets refrain from publishing any images of the bodies of children who were supposedly present in the house on the night of the attack and allegedly killed.
Despite numerous doubts and many lingering questions about the narratives presented by Kurdish media, these advertisements are currently being reissued in the statements and positions of official authorities within the central government. Qasim al-Araji, Iraq's National Security Advisor and the highest-ranking security official, asserted a day after the incident in a post on X (formerly Twitter):
"Last night, in the company of members of the investigation committee, we visited the residence of the targeted merchant in Erbil, and it became evident that the claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters is baseless. We will continue consultations with the security institutions of the region and will submit a report to the respected commander-in-chief."
Even the initiatives of think tanks and covert manipulations extend beyond influencing political figures. They are actively engaging in shaping public opinion in Iraq through a campaign named “Let it be destroyed”, with the aim of stirring public opinions.
In response to the missile attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on Erbil, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the city has advocated for sanctions on Iranian products.
Gilan Haji Saeed, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, mentioned locally, "This region used to import various goods, including industrial materials and health and medical products, from Iran. However, alternative options are now available."
Addressing the objections from Baghdad authorities regarding the violation of national sovereignty, Iran responded on Monday (January 22nd). Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Tehran has acknowledged the statements from Iraqi officials and has communicated its positions to the Iraqi side. He elaborated, "Iran's action against Israel's security headquarters in Erbil aimed to confront those threatening Iran's national security, not to target Iraq, its security, or governance. Iran has consistently warned Iraqi authorities, emphasizing that safeguarding Iran's national security is considered our red line."
While the Foreign Ministry spokesperson's remarks clarify that the Islamic Republic has shared evidence of Mossad's activities in the dismantled spy headquarters in Erbil with the Iraqis, and the recent Zionist attack on Iranian military advisors in Syria indicates a significant setback to Mossad's operational capabilities in Iraq exerted by the Revolutionary Guards. Nevertheless, establishing the Kurdistan Democratic Party's close collaboration with the Zionist regime requires a deeper understanding of the historical context.
The historical background of the Barzanis' association with Israel
Historically, Israel has established enduring connections, both overt and covert, and maintained close ties with leaders of independence-seeking factions in Iraq.
The relationship between the Zionist regime and Kurdish leaders in Iraq has been shrouded in secrecy, originating at least from the Six-Day War in 1967 and evolving significantly thereafter. Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the Kurdish leader, has visited the occupied territories on at least two occasions (in 1968 and 1973), engaging in meetings with Levi Eshkol, the former Prime Minister, and senior Israeli intelligence officials.
"General Meir Amit, the head of Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency), in dark attire, with Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the leader of the Kurds in the mountains of Kurdistan (around 1966)."
The evolution of these relations resulted, in 1966, in Abdul Aziz al-Uqaili, the then Minister of Defense in Iraq, accusing Iraqi Kurds of seeking to establish a "second Israel" in the region.
In the early 1950s, amid the substantial activities of the Jewish Agency to relocate Jews from worldwide locations to Palestinian territories, Iraqi Kurdish leaders played a significant role in facilitating the migration of Iraqi Jews to Israel. Those Jews who fled in the late 1960s recount how Masoud Barzani, the son of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, later the President of the Kurdistan Region in 2005, personally aided in their clandestine passage from the mountains.
Professor Ben-Yehuda highlights that Kurdish Jews "assumed prominent roles as ambassadors for Iraqi Kurds, advocating for their cause among the people of Israel." Following the suppression of the Kurdish uprising in 1991 by Saddam Hussein, the Kurdish community in Israel, estimated at around 100,000 people, orchestrated extensive relief efforts for Iraqi Kurds. They also organized protests against Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and appealed to the United States to safeguard the Kurds against Saddam.
The Barzani dynasty's pursuit of separatist plans and their close ties to the Zionists had progressed to the point where Iraqi Kurds were incorporated into a broader strategy formulated by David Ben-Gurion, the former Prime Minister of Israel. This strategy aimed at cultivating alliances and amicable relations with non-Arab nations in the Middle East, including Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia, as well as ethnic and religious minorities like Kurds and Maronites in Lebanon.
The fortification of relations between Israel and Iraqi Kurds commenced with the initiation of the Kurdish rebellion, also known as the Barzani uprising against the Iraqi regime, spanning from 1961 to 1970.
The Kurdish rebellion encountered formidable challenges, prompting Mullah Mustafa to seek assistance from the Zionists. Consequently, a Barzani delegation journeyed to the occupied territories and held discussions with Levi Eshkol, the Prime Minister at the time, and Shimon Peres, the leader of the regimes labor party. This encounter led to the deployment of an Israeli team to Iraqi Kurdistan, overseen by Reuven Shiloah whom was later appointed as the head of Mossad.
During that era, significant efforts were exerted to maintain the secrecy of this relationship, and following the Six-Day War in 1967, where joint Arab forces, including the Iraqi army, faced a humiliating defeat by the Israeli army, the ties deepened and expanded further.
As per Zionist researchers, Masoud, the son of Mullah Mustafa, along with other Iraqi Kurdish leaders, made recurrent visits to the occupied territories over the decades. They regularly convened with Israeli officials, and reports indicate that Mossad established bases in Iraqi Kurdistan during the 1960s and 1970s.
Brigadier General Tzuri Sagi, one of the initial Israeli Mossad agents to enter Kurdistan in 1965 for training Kurdish Peshmerga forces, remained in the region for approximately two years, holding regular sessions with Mullah Mustafa. In an article published in The New York Times on September 29, 2017, Sagi expressed, "I became a patriotic Kurd, and many Israeli soldiers and Mossad agents share similar sentiments towards the Kurds of Iraq."
Official confirmation of relations between the two parties came on September 29, 1980, when Menachem Begin, the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime at that time, acknowledged Israel's support for the Kurds "during their uprising against the Iraqis in 1965-1975."
After the fall of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime in 2003, the geopolitical landscape of relations between Iraqi Kurds and Israel underwent a significant transformation. The Kurds effectively established a self-governing Kurdish government and moved towards strengthening ties with the Zionist regime.
In 2005, Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government at that time, openly advocated for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. In 2008, Jalal Talabani, the President of Iraq at that time and the late leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), openly embraced Ehud Barak, the Defense Minister of Israel, during a conference in Greece. In response to protests from the Iraqi people and lawmakers, Talabani clarified that he did this as a Kurd and as the head of the PUK, not as the President of Iraq.
Israel has also sustained economic ties with Kurdistan and, despite objections from the central government in Baghdad, continues to procure oil from the region through intermediaries in Turkey. The Financial Times previously reported on substantial investments by Israeli companies in the energy, infrastructure, and communication sectors in Iraqi Kurdistan, along with providing security training and purchasing oil.
In the period under consideration, as reported by various sources, including the 2018 publication in the Financial Times, the Zionist regime heavily depended on oil imports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Up to 75% of the regime's oil imports were reportedly directed to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq during that time.
The Kurdistan independence referendum on September 25, 2017, unveiled a new dimension in the concealed support and connections between the Barzani family and the Zionist regime. Netanyahu expressed support during that period, stating, "Israel supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state."
Due to this intimate relationship, leaders in the region permitted and even arranged gatherings where the flags of the Zionist regime were repeatedly displayed as a symbol of unity between Jews and Kurds. This led to the Iraqi Parliament passing a law in late 2017, deeming the public display of the Zionist regime's flag a criminal offense.
The criminalization of ties with the Zionist regime resurfaced in 2022, underscoring ongoing disagreements between the region and the central government concerning the undisclosed relations of Erbil's leaders with the Zionists. This matter is not easily dismissed through current Barzani propaganda. The Parliament decisively endorsed this resolution with 275 votes out of a total of 329 members, underscoring the depth of Iraqi opposition to the Barzani family's associations with the Zionists.
One of the central provisions of the legislation, titled "Criminalization of Normalization and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Regime," categorizes all forms of political, security, economic, technical, cultural, sports, and scientific collaboration with Israel as illegal under any circumstances.
In September 2021, Erbil hosted a conference focused on the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime. Approximately 300 influential figures, including leaders of Arab tribes in Iraq and lawmakers, actively participated in this event. This conference occurred at a time when two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, were formalizing ties with the Zionist regime, and Morocco and Sudan also declared their participation in the Abraham Accords.
This development immediately triggered public outcry and opposition from certain elites and political factions in Iraq. From a technical perspective, Iraq and the Zionist regime remain officially at war. The Iraqi army played a significant role in wars against Israel (1948, 1967, and 1973). Additionally, the Zionists are the primary suspects in the bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.
Notably, even during that period, regional leaders refrained from denying the situation. Arafat Karam, a close advisor to Masoud Barzani, expressed, "I anticipate that the anti-Israeli law will widen the gap between Baghdad and Erbil. The endorsement of the Kurdish vote doesn't imply Erbil's alignment with the anti-Israel stance. Instead, due to political pressures, the decision for a 'yes' vote (in favor of the anti-normalization law) was made."
The subjection of governance versus defending the Iraqi sovereignty
Nevertheless, despite this comprehensive and unambiguous history, bridging the gap between regional leaders and even certain Iraqi politicians with the Islamic Republic remains elusive these days. Rather than addressing their deficiencies, they have turned to extravagance and encouraged discussions about independence, undermining national and territorial sovereignty.
Only by looking at the not-so-distant years and mentioning the emergence of ISIS and the turbulent security, political, and social situation in Iraq after this event, the reality becomes completely clear to any external observer that the Islamic Republic of Iran was the first and most important regional and international player to rush to defend the territorial sovereignty and territorial integrity and national security of Iraq. Interestingly, in the early days of the emergence of ISIS and the rise of this terrorist group in Iraq, the Kurdistan region was among the top targets of the self-proclaimed caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for the expansion of the territorial empire of this imaginary hellish terrorist group.
During the challenging days when regional leaders confronted ISIS's rapid advance towards Erbil, numerous accounts highlight the situation. While leaders from the West, Arab nations, and the Zionist regime of Israel remained passive as Masoud Barzani confronted the imminent threat, it was Haj Qasem who, driven by religious obligation and a sense of duty to his Kurdish brethren, personally organized and dispatched supplies to the region, preventing a recurrence of the tragedies in Sinjar and the Yazidi massacre.
Furthermore, in opposing the referendum, which could have escalated into a major regional crisis and internal conflict in Iraq, the Islamic Republic spared no effort in defending the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Iraq.
Based on this, it can be understood that respect for the independence and national sovereignty of Iraq has been a fundamental principle of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy towards the country's developments, with Tehran considering the weakening of national governance and territorial integrity of neighboring countries, especially Iraq, as a threat to its own security environment.
In recent years, Iraq has posed security threats to Iran's national interests and territorial integrity. These threats stem from the presence and activities of separatist and terrorist groups operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, as well as Mossad-linked organizations operating under the auspices of the US military in northern Iraq. This collaboration has resulted in numerous destructive actions, including the targeted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Iran has consistently urged Iraqi authorities to honor their commitments under the bilateral security agreement and eradicate threats to Iran's national interests. For instance, on May 21, 2023, Ismaeil Khatib, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, announced the arrest of "multiple Kurdish-Iraqi spies collaborating with Israel, attempting to cross from Iran's western borders." He cautioned that any threat to the Islamic Republic's security would be met with a resolute response along the borders.
Had Iraqi authorities observed such warnings, which could be viewed as a last appeal to the Baghdad government, and responded appropriately, the situation might have evolved differently. Hence, Iran's measures should not be construed as an effort to undermine Iraq's national sovereignty; rather, Tehran sought to eradicate a primary source of threat. Undoubtedly, the Kurdish and other Iraqi communities, who share substantial religious, linguistic, and cultural bonds with Iran, would not accept the presence and actions of Zionists within their borders. If the reality surfaces, criticism will naturally target the authorities in Erbil and Baghdad.
