Did Mossad plot to empower Kurds to change regime in Iran? Reports suggest opinions remain divided

Amid Israel's and the US's war against Iran, reports started to emerge that Mossad was planning to empower the Kurdish forces in a bid to change the regime in Tehran. However, a wide range of views started to emerge; ever since US President Donald Trump vetoed the plan, the regime change has not materialised.

The latest to go public on the matter is Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, who on Monday touched upon the topic in a military briefing. When a reporter asked Katz whether he had supported the plan and thought that it was realistic, the Israeli minister frowned twice.

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He went on to not offer any support to the plan, unlike top Mossad officials, who have said the plan could have succeeded had Trump not vetoed it. This reflects a clear difference of opinion between the Israeli defence ministry and Mossad, The Jerusalem Post reported.

As per the report, many American officials and members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had also been sceptical about the plan. Despite explicit opposition to the plan, The Jerusalem Post report suggested that Katz, at various points leading into the war and before anyone knew how the conflict would turn out, had clearly expressed strong support for the plan.

Netanyahu was a 'big fan'

As per the report, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Katz has rarely disagreed in front of other officials, was a major fan of the plan. According to the plan, Israel was prepared to provide the Iraqi Kurds not only access to a no-fly zone, but also a continuous aerial firepower envelope to help them advance against any Iranian force.

Over the years, the US and Mossad have provided weapons to the Kurds, many of which were "re-tasked" after the IDF captured the weapons from Hamas in Gaza or from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Apart from this, they have received training from Israelis, and according to The Jerusalem Post, they were fully ready to go.

As per the report, Trump was fully convinced to veto the operation more by some of his own top officials than by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

However, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has been reported as having taken a strong position against the Kurdish intervention. Sources close to the matter told The Jerusalem Post that the CIA boss raised criticisms but never explicitly told the Israelis that he was against the plan.

There are also public reports that the CIA gave the Kurds weapons, meaning that the American clandestine agency acted in ways that could have helped the operation happen.