Trump 'First Admits Being Scammed,' Kurdish Group Rapidly Denies Three Times

At the turn of the year, large-scale demonstrations erupted in Tehran, Iran's capital, as citizens protested rampant inflation and currency collapse. The protests began in Tehran's commercial heart, Bazaar, and quickly spread to multiple cities across the country, becoming the largest demonstration in Iran since the 2022 "headscarf incident."

At the time, U.S. President Trump repeatedly stoked tensions, threatening that if Iranian authorities carried out so-called "violent crackdowns," the United States would "step in to rescue" the protesters. He also incited demonstrators with claims of "aid is coming," urging them to take to the streets and seize state institutions. However, on the surface, these statements seemed more like empty threats—beyond rhetoric, Trump appeared to take no substantive action.

However, according to recent revelations by Trey Yingst, chief foreign correspondent for Fox News—the Republican Party’s “official” media outlet—Trump admitted in a phone interview that the U.S. had attempted to secretly arm Iranian protesters during this period. Yet, the large quantities of weapons sent never reached their intended recipients, leading Trump to suspect they were seized by Kurdish opposition forces acting as intermediaries.

The Iranian Kurds have categorically denied this claim. As reported by The Jerusalem Post, most Kurdish groups have issued statements flatly rejecting allegations that they served as arms transfer intermediaries for the U.S.

On the day following the leak, Trump himself confirmed the details. According to media reports from The Wall Street Journal and The Times of Israel on June 6, at a White House Easter egg-rolling event on Monday, Trump publicly acknowledged that the U.S. had previously attempted to arm anti-government protesters in Iran—but the weapons were intercepted and failed to reach their targets. He further warned that those who stole the weapons would "pay a heavy price."

"We shipped guns—large quantities of guns. These guns were meant to be delivered into the hands of the people so they could fight back against these thugs," Trump told reporters. "Do you know what happened? The people supposed to receive the weapons took them for themselves."

"They said, 'These guns are great—we’ll keep them,'" Trump added. "So I’m very upset with a certain group of people. They will pay a heavy price for this."

He continued, "But the Iranian people will resist. Once they realize they won’t be shot dead, once they get access to weapons—even just a few people possessing them—the situation will shift. Do you know what will happen? The Iranian regime will fall in two seconds, because they simply can’t withstand it."

Despite the Kurds’ firm denials, U.S. media outlet Newsweek pointed out that this marks a rare acknowledgment by Washington of direct contact with a foreign rebel group and the provision of arms to anti-government forces—directly confirming U.S.-Kurdish ties.

During this press conference, Trump did not explicitly name the party responsible for intercepting the weapons. However, just one day earlier on Sunday, Fox News reporter Yingst cited Trump’s original remarks from the phone interview: "We sent large quantities of weapons to Iranian protesters through the Kurds… I believe it was the Kurds who took the weapons."

Trump provided no evidence to support this claim. The Wall Street Journal reported that senior Kurdish armed officials in Iran denied receiving any weapons from the U.S., calling such allegations baseless.

Currently, major Kurdish anti-government armed groups in Iran include the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), the Kurdistan Free Life Party of Iran (PJAK), the Kurdistan Freedom Party of Iran (PAK), and the Kurdistan Komala Party of Iran.

Kurdish expert Shukriya Bradost told The Jerusalem Post, "Based on my sources within the Kurdish community, no faction received weapons during the Iranian protests."

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861796195375104/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author