WASHINGTON DC - Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), said on Monday that they have not received any clear message from the US President Donald Trump regarding their role in the ongoing war with Iran.
“Honestly, we have not received a very clear message from the President of the United States about our role right now in this war and even in the future, but a lot of them have accepted this reality that the Kurds can play a big part in this development,” Azizi told Rudaw during a press conference in Washington.
He accused Tehran of trying to divert the attention of the public by indirectly calling on Kurdish parties to negotiate with them.
The following is the Rudaw questions to the KDPI spokesperson and his answers:
Rudaw: In recent days, the US president has sent different signals about the role of the Kurds in this operation. Has the US administration officially reached out to you, including President Trump? If so, is there a clear message from the US government about what roles they expect the Kurds to play in this theater?
Khalid Azizi: Honestly, we have not received a very clear message from the President of the United States about our role right now in this war and even in the future, but a lot of them have accepted this reality that the Kurds can play a big part in this development. And we have all the time sent this message to the United States and other countries that Iran never can have democracy and security if Kurds are not part of the future of Iran. It doesn't work without the Kurds. So we hope that during this development time we are in touch with all of them, that they can help us in how to have an alternative, honestly.
Rudaw: How do you respond to the recent Iranian president's call to negotiate or sit down with the Kurds, as he said on Saturday that you might have differences, but they don't want you to be a tool of the US and Israel? How do you respond to his message to the Kurdish opposition?
Khalid Azizi: This rhetoric is very usual. The Islamic Republic is trying to divert attention and tell the Iranian people that if you will come again into the streets, if we are not in power, Iran will be disintegrated. Right now, the President of the United States [is] supporting the Iranian Kurdish people. So we are very familiar with this rhetoric. And it does not work, actually. It does not work. Because we have our own policy, and our policy is very firm - that we have our own strategy. If our strategy requires us to enter the war right now, we will do that. But right now, we do not have such intention, actually. So I believe it doesn't work. From time to time, the Islamic Republic has been trying to divert the Iranian people's attention with things like that.