STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Our next report on the war in Iran takes us to the western border of the country, and it helps to get the geography down.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Ethnic Kurds live on both sides of the border. On one side, the Kurds are part of Iran. On the other side, Kurds control their own region of Iraq. Some Iranian armed opposition groups have been based on the Iraqi side for decades. The U.S. has talked of encouraging those Kurds to attack Iran. In recent days, President Trump has suggested that he was for it, but then said he is against it.
INSKEEP: NPR's Jane Arraf on the Iraqi side of the border in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. And she spoke with the deputy prime minister there, Qubad Talabani, on Sunday. She's in the city of Sulaymaniyah. Hi there, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hi.
INSKEEP: OK. So what does the Iraqi Kurdish leader say about these Iranian Kurdish groups who seem to live on his territory?
ARRAF: Well, as you know, the Kurds have long been strong U.S. allies, including the fight against ISIS. Now, this was Talabani's first interview with Western media since the start of the war. And he wanted to make clear that neither Iraqi nor Iranian Kurds here would be part of the fight.
QUBAD TALABANI: We have explained maybe some of the flaws behind the thought of using Iranian Kurds as the tip of the spear to launch any potential uprisings within Iran.
ARRAF: Talabani is deputy prime minister for the entire Kurdistan region, but he says his brother, Bafel Talabani - who's head of the party that controls this part of Iraqi Kurdistan - spoke with Trump last week and relayed this message.
TALABANI: Our forces would not get involved under any circumstances. This is not our war, and we've made that very clear.
ARRAF: Talabani points out that in a country the size of Western Europe with 90 million people, Iran, and multiple ethnic groups, chaos would be disastrous.
INSKEEP: I appreciate that statement that it's the size of Western Europe. You realize what it would take to invade and take over such a place. I want to explain further where you are. The Kurdistan region of Iraq broke away from the Iraqi government many years ago, but it's still part of Iraq. How vulnerable is it to getting involved in the war, whether it wants to or not?
ARRAF: Well, it is definitely squeezed in the middle. On one side, there's Iran, and on the other side, the pro Iranian Iraqi government. U.S. military bases in Erbil - the capital of the Kurdistan region - have been the most heavily hit by Iran and Iran backed Iraqi militias. But Sulaymaniyah Province where we are, has also been attacked by drones and missiles. Here's what Talabani said about those Iraqi attacks.
TALABANI: These are groups that are paid by the state, firing at us. What's going on here?
INSKEEP: Has Iran been in contact with the Kurds during this war?
ARRAF: Yes, he says the last time was just a few days ago when a high-level delegation, alarmed by news reports that the U.S. was pressing for armed opposition groups here to cross the border, came from Teheran.
TALABANI: They were trying to understand the realities of this reporting, (laughter) of whether or not we're about to invade Iran. And we made it very clear, no, we have no interest and there's no means to, and that is not our policy.
ARRAF: Talabani says there's a misconception in the U.S. about the Kurds.
TALABANI: We always get labeled with good fighters. Every U.S. president - maybe since Bill Clinton - has in some form or fashion talked about how good a fighter we are, but we're not guns for hire.
ARRAF: He says they just want to govern their region, build the economy and live in peace.
INSKEEP: OK. NPR's Jane Arraf reporting from the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, thanks so much.
ARRAF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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