美国突然从叙利亚北部撤军不仅激怒了这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家的库尔德人，也激怒了邻国伊拉克的库尔德人。几十年来，伊拉克的少数民族一直依赖华盛顿的支持，但他们可能很快会寻求其他地方的支持。

面对北约盟国土耳其和支持五角大楼对抗伊斯兰国激进组织的库尔德人领导的部队之间的战斗，唐纳德·特朗普总统选择从北部地区撤出美国军队。特朗普辩称，此举是他长期寻求的避免叙利亚再次爆发无休止冲突的目标的一部分，但他后来宣布，他将在叙利亚东部油田附近保持军事存在，这些油田大多位于传统上阿拉伯人占多数的地区。

如同新闻周刊首次报道周三，这一计划——等待白宫批准——包括部署半个装甲旅战斗队巴塔利昂，包括大约30辆阿布拉姆坦克。主要由美国支持的库尔德民兵组成的叙利亚民主力量将被要求加入这项任务。

回应新闻周刊一名库尔德高级情报官员告诉记者新闻周刊:“这都是关于石油，它比无辜的血浓。”

库尔德官员对美国的最新举措感到不安，对特朗普在中东的长期承诺也不确定，他们效仿特朗普新闻周刊伊拉克库尔德人可能会寻求与一个新伙伴——伊朗——建立联系，这种情绪他们并不孤独。

“我们在等待美国改变态度，”隶属于库尔德斯坦爱国联盟(PUK)的伊拉克库尔德议员希尔万·米尔扎告诉记者新闻周刊，并补充说，如果没有，“那么我们有义务在这个领域寻找另一个朋友。”当被问及这是否包括邻国伊朗时，米尔扎回答说，“没错。”

2018年1月3日，伊拉克库尔德人和伊朗之间的两个边境哨所因伊拉克库尔德人争取独立的全民公投失败而关闭，一天后，一名保安出现在伊朗-伊拉克边境的哈吉·奥姆兰过境点。

美国和伊朗都有与伊拉克库尔德人合作的历史，库尔德人是多达2000万的少数民族，主要分布在伊拉克、伊朗、叙利亚和土耳其的部分地区，目的是实现短期目标，同时摒弃该组织的自治愿望。在2003年美国入侵伊拉克之前，华盛顿和德黑兰一直支持库尔德武装对抗伊拉克政府——许多批评者认为这场战争是为了争夺油田——以及打击伊拉克和叙利亚境内的大量自然资源的伊斯兰国。

然而，在叙利亚，五角大楼未经中央政府许可就支持叙利亚民主力量。中央政府是一个伊朗盟友，美国曾试图在一个独立的地方派系的帮助下推翻该盟友，该派系主要是伊斯兰反对派团体，仍得到土耳其的支持。随着叙利亚内战的激烈进行，美国、伊朗和土耳其都支持不同的敌对派别。

安卡拉和德黑兰面临长达数十年的库尔德叛乱，前者特别积极地打击被取缔的库尔德斯坦工人党(PKK)，将其与叙利亚民主力量的主要派别人民保护部队(YPG)联系起来。土耳其军队和叙利亚叛军同盟两次突袭边境，与YPG部队作战，让美国的两个合作伙伴相互对抗。本月早些时候，土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安下令进行第三次更大规模的行动，特朗普决定是时候立即离开了。

美国撤军太突然了，如同新闻周刊以前报告过库尔德武装在推特上发现了这件事，几乎没有机会制定应急计划。尽管美国此前曾竭尽全力击落一架叙利亚喷气式飞机，并轰炸被控攻击叙利亚民主力量阵地的叙利亚-俄罗斯混合民兵部队，但特朗普认定，这场战斗不应该由美国来打，让叙利亚库尔德人与叙利亚政府及其另一个主要盟友俄罗斯达成协议，以抵御土耳其主导的攻击。

有人看到叙利亚库尔德人在美国军队外设置纠察线，伊拉克库尔德人越过边境向入境人员投掷石块和水果。米尔扎告诉我新闻周刊伊拉克库尔德人对美国离开叙利亚北部感到“非常愤怒”，并“担心土耳其试图”入侵伊拉克库尔德人的土地。

“我们想在我们的土地上和平生活，”他补充道。

10月21日，一支美国军车车队从叙利亚北部撤离后，抵达杜胡克省的伊拉克库尔德城镇巴达拉什附近。有人看到至少一名美国士兵穿着YPJ的补丁，这是YPG的女性版本，显然是为了声援留下的库尔德战士。

一些美国评论员对叙利亚库尔德人与叙利亚政府及其俄罗斯盟友(现在可以说是该地区最大的权力掮客)之间的协议表示失望。伊拉克库尔德人和伊朗之间的协议很可能会给美国当前的战略带来更大的麻烦。美国的战略试图通过以下方式迫使对手屈服于政治制裁和外交孤立。

尽管华盛顿和德黑兰的利益趋于一致，反对打击伊斯兰国，但自1979年推翻西方支持的君主制、建立什叶派穆斯林共和国(几乎立即遭到伊拉克领导人萨达姆·侯赛因入侵)的伊斯兰革命以来，它们一直意见不一。

尽管美国稍后会对侯赛因采取行动，但它最初在这场战争中向伊拉克提供支持，伊拉克库尔德人基本上支持伊朗，这有助于为库尔德部队与巴格达之间后来的敌对行动以及华盛顿与德黑兰之间未来几十年的持续敌对奠定基础。事实证明，2015年的一项核协议是美国和伊朗——以及中国、欧盟、法国、德国、俄罗斯和英国——走到一起的里程碑式的一步，但特朗普政府去年放弃了这项协议，希望从经济上耗尽总统所说的“世界上最大的支持恐怖主义的国家”

美国单方面退出和随后对伊朗的制裁导致中东地区，尤其是伊拉克和波斯湾地区的动荡加剧。尽管伊朗主要是通过各种各样的穆斯林什叶派民兵组织在伊拉克采取行动，这些民兵组织与库尔德武装的关系有问题，但可能的重组已经进行了一段时间，甚至早于美国最近从叙利亚撤军。

“库尔德地区政府(KRG)和伊朗一直在努力探索双方如何加强关系，”南阿拉巴马大学名誉教授纳德·恩特萨尔告诉记者新闻周刊。"这些尝试始于几个月前，在美国最近从叙利亚北部撤出之前."

“KRG甚至鼓励设在KRG境内的伊朗库尔德反对党与伊朗政府接触。伊朗库尔德政党的代表和挪威的伊朗官员已经至少举行了两轮会谈。“KRG和伊朗也热衷于开发更多渠道来促进两国的贸易和跨境经济关系。”

尽管德黑兰与安卡拉和莫斯科并肩工作，作为三方和平进程的一部分，主要受到华盛顿的抵制，而且大部分不包括叙利亚库尔德人，但最强烈反对土耳其入侵叙利亚北部的还是伊朗。美国提出冲突的replies⁠—with·特朗普似乎在加入五角大楼谴责这一行动之前先批准了这一行动——而俄罗斯仅仅表示了保留意见。

1月15日，在伊拉克北部库尔德城市苏莱曼尼亚举行的库尔德斯坦地区和伊朗联合贸易会议上，伊朗外交部长穆罕默德贾瓦德扎里夫(3-1)坐在伊拉克北部自治库尔德斯坦地区副总理库巴德塔拉巴尼(2-1)旁边。

由副总统迈克·彭斯、国务卿麦克·庞贝和其他人率领的特朗普政府代表团设法确保了为期五天的停火，停火条款后来遭到交战双方的争议，但最终还是在周二达成俄罗斯和土耳其之间的协议这似乎提供了一个更持久的解决方案。一个20英里的“安全区”将暂时处于土耳其支持的控制之下，俄罗斯和叙利亚的联合巡逻将确保YPG部队从边界的其余部分撤出，深度约为18.5英里，随后俄罗斯和土耳其将在6英里以外展开行动。

随着土耳其推动阿拉伯难民在边境重新定居，以及叙利亚政府逐渐在以库尔德人为主的自治政府控制下的其他东北领土上重新确立自己的地位，特朗普公开建议大规模库尔德人移民，以帮助保护东部油田免受伊斯兰国的袭击。

“昨天我在关于土耳其/库尔德人的演讲中讨论的油田被伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国占领，直到美国在库尔德人的帮助下接管。我们绝不会让一个重组的伊斯兰国拥有这些领域！”特朗普周四发推称，他“非常喜欢”与叙利亚民主力量指挥官马祖姆·科巴内的对话。“他赞赏我们所做的，我也赞赏库尔德人所做的。也许是库尔德人开始前往石油地区的时候了！”

与此同时，伊拉克库尔德人沮丧地看着，担心尽管美国政策可能不会立即出现新的转变迹象，但特朗普不可预测的本性可能很快让他们自己的未来陷入危险，只要他们把希望寄托在一个权力的支持上，正如特朗普所说，“7000英里之外”他们的担忧发生在伊朗正在寻求建立新的地区关系之际，如其提议的“希望联盟”或霍尔木兹和平倡议，这为该地区新的睦邻关系创造了一条潜在的道路，而该地区容易出现令人不快的联盟。

“由于地理上的接近、历史和文化上的联系，KRG和伊朗的关系将随着时间的推移而改善，”恩特尔说新闻周刊。

 

U.S. SUDDEN SYRIA EXIT LEAVES ANGRY IRAQI KURDS LOOKING TO IRAN: 'OIL THICKER THAN INNOCENT BLOOD'

The United States' sudden withdrawal from northern Syria has angered Kurds not only in this war-torn country, but in neighboring Iraq, where the ethnic minority has relied on Washington's backing for decades, but may soon look elsewhere for support.

Faced with a fight between NATO ally Turkey and the Kurdish-led forces that backed the Pentagon against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), President Donald Trump chose to pull U.S. troops from the northern region. While Trump argued that the move was part of his long-sought goal of avoiding another open-ended conflict in Syria, he later announced he would maintain a military presence near the country's eastern oil fields, much of which is located in regions with a traditional Arab majority.

As Newsweek first reported Wednesday, such a plan—pending White House approval—included the deployment of one half of an armored brigade combat team batallion, involving about 30 Abrams tanks. The Syrian Democratic Forces, the largely Kurdish militia backed by the U.S., would be asked to join the mission.

Responding to Newsweek's report about these potential military moves, a senior Kurdish intelligence official told Newsweek: "It's all about oil, it's thicker than innocent blood."

Upset over the U.S.' latest moves and uncertain about Trump's long-term commitments in the Middle East, Kurdish officials emulated to Newsweek that Iraqi Kurds may look to shore up ties with a new partner—Iran, a sentiment they were not alone in sharing.

"We are waiting for the USA to change its attitude," Shirwan Mirza, an Iraqi Kurdish member of parliament affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Newsweek, adding that, if it did not, "then we are obliged to look for another friend in this area." Asked if this could include neighboring Iran, Mirza responded, "That is right."

A security guard is seen at the Iran-Iraq border crossing of Haji Omran on January 3, 2018, one day after two border posts were reopened between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran following a closure due to unrest related to a failed Iraqi Kurdish referendum for independence.

The U.S. and Iran both have a history of working alongside Iraqi Kurds, an ethnic minority of up to 20 million mostly spanning parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey, to achieve short-term goals while dismissing the group's aspirations for self-rule. Both Washington and Tehran have long offered support to Kurdish forces against Iraqi governments prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion—a war many critics argued was fought over oil fields—as well as against ISIS, which itself managed to seize sizeable natural resources in both Iraq and Syria.

In Syria, however, the Pentagon backed the Syrian Democratic Forces without permission from the central government, an Iranian ally that the U.S. had tried to overthrow with the help of a separate local faction—a largely Islamist array of opposition groups still backed by Turkey. As Syria's civil war raged on, the U.S., Iran and Turkey all came to back different, rival factions.

Ankara and Tehran have faced decades-long Kurdish insurgencies and the former has been especially active in its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), linking it to the People's Protection Units (YPG), the main faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Turkish forces and allied Syrian insurgents twice stormed the border to battle YPG units, pitting two U.S. partners against one another, and when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a third, larger operation earlier this month, Trump decided that it was time to leave—immediately.

The U.S. pullout was so abrupt that, as Newsweek previously reported, Kurdish forces found out about it on Twitter, leaving little opportunity for a contingency plan. While the U.S. had previously gone to the lengths of downing a Syrian jet and bombarding a mixed Syrian-Russian militia force accused of attacking Syrian Democratic Forces positions, Trump determined that this battle was not for the U.S. to fight, leaving Syrian Kurds to cut a deal with the Syrian government and its other major ally, Russia, in order to fend off the Turkish-led attack.

Syrian Kurds were seen picketing exiting U.S. military forces and, across the border, Iraqi Kurds threw rocks and fruit at the incoming personnel. Mirza told Newsweek that Iraqi Kurds felt "very angry about the U.S. leaving northern Syria" and "worry about Turkey's attempts" to launch incursions on Iraqi Kurdish soil as well.

"We want to live peacefully on our land," he added.

Aconvoy of U.S. military vehicles arrives near the Iraqi Kurdish town of Bardarash in the Dohuk governorate after withdrawing from northern Syria on October 21. At least one U.S. soldier was seen wearing a patch of the YPJ, the female version of the YPG, in apparent solidarity with the Kurdish fighters left behind.

A number of U.S. commentators have expressed dismay toward the deal between Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government, along with its Russian ally, arguably now the region's top powerbroker. An arrangement between Iraqi Kurds and Iran would likely prove even more troubling to the current U.S. strategy, which has sought to force adversaries into political submission via sanctions and diplomatic isolation.

Though their interests converged against fighting ISIS, Washington and Tehran have been at odds since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a West-sponsored monarchy and established a Shiite Muslim Republic that was almost immediately invaded by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

While the U.S. would later turn on Hussein, it initially offered its support to Iraq during this war, and Iraqi Kurds largely backed Iran, helping to set the stage for later hostilities between Kurdish forces and Baghdad and for the ongoing enmity between Washington and Tehran in the decades to come. A 2015 nuclear deal proved a landmark step toward bringing together the U.S. and Iran—along with China, the European Union, France, German, Russia and the United Kingdom—but the Trump administration abandoned this deal last year in hopes of economically draining what the president has called "the world's largest state-sponsor of terrorism."

The U.S.' unilateral exit and subsequent sanctions against Iran have led to increased unrest in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region. Though Iran has largely acted in Iraq through various, mostly Shiite Muslim militias that have troubled ties to Kurdish forces, a possible realignment has been some time in the making, predating even the recent U.S. exit from Syria.

"The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Iran have been trying to explore how the two sides can shore up their relations," Nader Entessar, professor emeritus at the University of South Alabama, told Newsweek. "These attempts have started several months ago and before the recent U.S. exit from northern Syria."

"The KRG has even encouraged the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties that are based in the KRG's territory to reach out to the Iranian government. At least two rounds of meetings have already taken place between the representatives of Iranian Kurdish parties and Iranian officials in Norway," he added. "Both the KRG and Iran are also keen on developing additional channels to boost their trade and cross-border economic relations."

Though Tehran works alongside Ankara and Moscow as part of a trilateral peace process largely boycotted by Washington and mostly excluding Syrian Kurds, it was also Iran that came out most strongly against the Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The U.S. offered conflicting replies⁠—with Trump appearing to initially approve the operation before joining the Pentagon in condemning it—and Russia expressed mere reservations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (3rd-L) is seen sitting alongside Qubad Talabani (2nd-L), Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region, during a joint-trade conference between the Kurdistan region and Iran, in the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah on January 15.

A Trump administration delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others managed to secure a five-day ceasefire whose terms were later disputed by both warring parties, but it was ultimately Tuesday's agreement between Russia and Turkey that appeared to offer a more lasting solution. A 20-mile "safe zone" would for the time being remain under Turkish-backed control and joint Russian-Syrian patrols would ensure the withdrawal of YPG units from the rest of the border at a depth of about 18-and-a-half miles, followed by a Russian-Turkish operation at just beyond six miles.

With Turkey pushing for the resettling of Arab refugees by the border and the Syrian government gradually reasserting itself across other northeastern territories under the control of the mostly Kurdish autonomous administration, Trump has openly suggested a mass Kurdish migration to help protect oil fields in the east from ISIS.

"The Oil Fields discussed in my speech on Turkey/Kurds yesterday were held by ISIS until the United States took them over with the help of the Kurds. We will NEVER let a reconstituted ISIS have those fields!" Trump tweeted Thursday, adding that he "really enjoyed" his conversation with Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Kobane. "He appreciates what we have done, and I appreciate what the Kurds have done. Perhaps it is time for the Kurds to start heading to the Oil Region!"

Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds look on with frustration, worried that, while there may be no immediate signs of another shift in U.S. policy, Trump's unpredictable nature could soon leave their own future in peril as long as they pegged their hopes to the backing of a power, as Trump put it, "7,000 miles away." Their concerns came at a time when Iran was searching to build new regional relationships, such as its proposed "Coalition for HOPE" or Hormuz Peace Initiative, creating a potential path for new neighborly ties in a region prone to uncomfortable alliances.

"Due to geographic proximity, historic and cultural ties, the KRG-Iran ties will improve over time," Entessar told Newsweek.