Abdul El-Sayed defies $60 Million campaign against him, wins Michigan Democratic Senate Primary

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis Despite massive spending by outside groups and high-profile endorsements for his opponent, Abdul El-Sayed secured a decisive Democratic Senate primary victory and now heads into a closely watched November showdown. Abdul El-Sayed has scored one of the most closely watched political upsets of the 2026 election cycle, defeating Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary despite facing more than $60 million in outside spending , much of it from pro-Israel political groups. The victory marks a significant breakthrough for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and sets up a high-stakes general election contest against Republican Mike Rogers in November. El-Sayed's campaign prevailed even after Stevens received late endorsements from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and influential national Democrats, including Representative James Clyburn . Those endorsements failed to reverse momentum behind El-S...
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IRGC says seized American weapons smuggled by groups ‘based in northern Iraq’


 

US President Donald Trump said in early April that Washington had delivered arms to Iranian protesters through the Kurds, but the Kurds had “kept” the weapons.

 By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj, Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 19 May 2026  – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday announced that they had seized a “large amount” of American weapons allegedly smuggled into the country, by striking “anti-revolutionary terrorist groups based in northern Iraq” that transported them.

 

The groups, “acting on behalf of the United States and the Zionist regime… were struck in Baneh, Kurdistan Province, and large quantities of weapons and ammunition were discovered and seized,” the IRGC said, in a statement carried by affiliated media.

 

“Intelligence follow-ups to identify and arrest all internal traitorous elements of the terrorist groups are underway,” it added.

 

Photos published by IRGC-affiliated media, purportedly showing the confiscated weapons, include a multitude of different weapons, notably several Kalashnikovs — a famously Russian-made rifle.

 

US President Donald Trump said in early April that Washington had delivered arms to Iranian protesters through the Kurds, but the Kurds had “kept” the weapons.

 

The American president has not specified what group of “Kurds” he was referring to, but the claim has been collectively denied by Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

 

The Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have also denied the accusation separately.

 

Trump doubled down on his remarks last week, saying that he is “very disappointed” with the Kurds for allegedly keeping the weapons US had sent to Iranian protesters, noting that the Kurds “take, take, take,” despite Kurdish parties having rejected the accusations.

 

In early March, Kurdish Iranian opposition groups were accused of launching ground incursions into Iran from the country’s western border to join the conflict against Tehran; reports they similarly strongly denied.

 

Iranian Kurdish dissidents, many of whom are based in the Kurdistan Region, have long been targets for Tehran, with strikes growing particularly more frequent and intense after the US-Israeli war on Iran began. Despite a ceasefire in place to halt the regional conflict, Iran still carries out strikes on the opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region.

 

#Iran #Kurdistan #IRGC #MiddleEast

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