U.S. BELIEVED HELPING KURDISH SEPARATISTS IN IRAN

[alimostofi]

U.S. BELIEVED HELPING KURDISH SEPARATISTS IN IRAN

LONDON [MENL] -- The United States has been quietly helping Kurdish separatists in Iran.

Arab diplomatic sources said Washington has been funneling funds and weapons through pro-U.S. Kurdish groups in Iraq to Kurdish separatists in Iran. The sources said a force of about 500 Kurds has been organized and trained to oppose the regime in Teheran. About 10,000 Iranian Kurds have found refuge in Iraq.

"Many of the Kurds are working for a separate state," an Arab diplomat who has been monitoring the movement said. "Others are stressing the need for a democratic Iran in which the Kurds and other minorities would have a greater say."

The sources said U.S.-aligned groups such as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, has been training the Iranian Kurds in northern Iraq. They said the Iranian Kurds shuttle between Iraq and Iran and have attacked Iranian government facilities in three border provinces.