Released For Publication – Mossad’s Kurdish Operation: Arming Rebels to Topple Iran’s Regime
In the 2025 2026 Iran conflict, Mossad transferred captured Hamas and Hezbollah weapons to Iranian Kurdish militias as part of a high risk plan to destabilize the Islamic Republic.
Led by Mossad Director David Barnea and coordinated with the CIA, the operation supplied re tasked arms seized by the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon to Kurdish fighters along the Iran Iraq border. The strategy aimed to exploit long standing Israeli Kurdish ties and Iran’s ethnic tensions. Kurdish groups, numbering around eight million in Iran, were seen as capable of launching cross border incursions, seizing territory, and sparking wider anti regime uprisings, supported by Israeli and potential US airstrikes.
The plan envisioned Kurdish forces tying down IRGC units in the northwest while broader strikes degraded Iran’s proxies and leadership. Training and logistics were provided through established Kurdish networks in Iraq.
The full ground offensive was ultimately scaled back. Early media leaks alerted Tehran, which reinforced its borders. Kurdish caution, Turkish opposition to Kurdish gains, and US ally concerns led Washington to limit direct involvement. Limited arms transfers and cross border activities still occurred.
Though regime change via this route did not materialize, the operation contributed to proxy degradation and highlighted Iran’s internal vulnerabilities. It reflects Israel’s longstanding “enemy of my enemy” approach toward Kurdish groups and the complex realities of covert warfare in the region.
