Iranian Kurdish opposition groups denied Monday that they received or diverted US weapons intended for Iranian protesters, after President Donald Trump publicly named Kurdish intermediaries as responsible for the arms never reaching their intended recipients.
Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on Sunday that the US had sent guns to anti-government protesters “through the Kurds” during nationwide demonstrations that erupted in late December 2025. “We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them. And I think the Kurds took the guns,” Trump said.
NEW: The United States sent guns to the Iranian protesters through the Kurds, President Trump told Fox News.
“We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them,” President Trump told me. “And I think the Kurds took the guns.” pic.twitter.com/CmAfYJVkIH
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 5, 2026
He repeated the allegation Monday while speaking to reporters at the White House Easter egg roll, saying those who kept the weapons “will pay a big price,” though he stopped short of naming Kurdish groups again by name.
Leaders across the Kurdish political coalition denied the claim. Hejar Berenji, representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the United States, said his party “firmly rejects” the report, calling it “inaccurate and not reflecting reality.”
The information currently being reported by Fox News does not accurately reflect the situation. The coalition of Kurdish parties in Iranian Kurdistan will be issuing an official statement shortly to provide clarification.
— Hejar Berenji (@Hejar_Berenji) April 5, 2026
Some Kurdish factions are responding to the remarks from President Trump.
“We did not receive any weapons during the time of the demonstrations in Iran,” Hejar Berenji, PDKI Representative to the USA told Fox News.
Fox also reached out to additional Kurdish parties for comment. https://t.co/T43DgZbodH
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 5, 2026
Siamand Moeini, a senior figure in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), said his group “received nothing” from Washington.
Hana Yazdanpanah, foreign relations coordinator for the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), said her group is still relying on weapons left over from the fight against the Islamic State and “received no single weapon from the US at this time.”
Geopolitical analyst Ceng Sagnic, chief analyst at a multinational intelligence firm, said Trump’s assertion “does not add up” for a specific reason: Kurdish groups operate primarily in Kurdish-populated border regions, not in Tehran, Tabriz, or Isfahan, where the protests were concentrated.
President Trump’s statement does not add up and may reflect a misunderstanding for several reasons:
1.#Kurdish groups have access primarily to Kurdish-populated regions, not to Tehran, Tabriz, or Isfahan. The geography alone would make it extremely difficult to deliver shipments… https://t.co/uTevP8mv6E
— Ceng Sagnic (@cngsgnc) April 5, 2026
“The geography alone would make it extremely difficult to deliver shipments to the major Iranian cities where protests were taking place,” Sagnic said.
Kurdish leaders warned that Trump’s public naming of their groups reinforces Iranian government narratives that the December protests were foreign-backed, which is a framing Tehran has used to justify mass arrests, executions, and cross-border missile and drone strikes on Kurdish opposition bases in northern Iraq since US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran on February 28.
The claims made by Trump remain unverified by SOFX.
