Sky News has obtained a detailed insight into the phone calls between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq at the start of the war last weekend.
There has been considerable speculation about the calls and their content, which has led to rumours and claims about the Kurds launching a ground operation into Iran.
Sky News can reveal that Mr Trump did not ask Kurdish armed groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan to launch a ground incursion into Iran when he spoke to political leaders on the phone, and there is no covert CIA operation currently under way to arm the groups.
My source, who is a high-ranking and trusted member of the Iraqi Kurdistan political elite, has intimate knowledge of the details of the phone call between Mr Trump and Bafel Talabani – head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
This person spoke to me on the condition of anonymity and said the phone call between the two men happened last weekend, when the war began and lasted around 10 minutes.
In the call, the US president thanked Mr Talabani and the Kurdish forces for assisting the American military in northern Iraq and in Syria over many years.
“Mr Trump was phoning to express his thanks, and his need for his [Mr Talabani’s] wisdom, experience, and his relations in the region.”
“He didn’t ask for anything, he didn’t suggest they invade anywhere and didn’t discuss arms or the CIA in any way,” the source added.
This new information counters reports that there is pressure being applied on Kurdish leaders by Mr Trump to cross the border, and reports of active CIA involvement in a plan on the ground. That’s “an outright lie, it didn’t happen”, the source said.
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They confirmed that Mr Trump also had a brief phone call with Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
“Again, President Trump asked for nothing, it was a very brief call,” they said.
They added: “There were only these two phone calls to Kurdish leaders here.”
It’s believed the source was granted permission to talk to Sky News to counter claims originating in American media that suggested the Trump administration asked the Kurds to launch a ground offensive into Iran, with CIA assistance, to create a popular uprising.
The source told me this was not covered in the phone call, and that Mr Talabani did not get that impression.
Bafel Talabani, who grew up in Croydon in south London as a refugee, is the son of the former president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani. He is well-known in the Middle East for keeping good relations with all the major players.
“If he speaks to one side, he always also speaks to the other,” the source said.
“His overriding conviction is to protect Kurdistan and its people – that is all.”
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Iranian Kurdish groups living in exile in Iraqi Kurdistan have told Sky News in recent days that they would welcome an incursion into Iran to ferment regime change and are actively hoping for American military support, particularly air cover if they cross the border.
But the source said it would be “suicide” for Iranian Kurds to cross the border without specific American assurances and support.
As things stand, they said, there is nothing to indicate that any type of firm agreement or plan has been made.
But as this war evolves by the day, that could, of course, change.
