Nournews : Regional experts believe that one of Israel’s main objectives since the day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 operation has been to operationalize the David Corridor plan.

Today, while most attention is focused on U.S. attacks on southern Iran—and one of the scenarios being discussed is the possibility of U.S. forces conducting helicopter landings on Iran’s southern islands, as well as a potential ground offensive from the south—it is also worth considering the possibility that the focus on southern Iran may be a diversion and a deception operation.

The U.S. military focus on southern Iran appears to be drawing public attention away from another area that could be far more important, where Washington may be seeking to deliver a major blow to Iran as part of a broader deception strategy.

That area is the stretch along Iran’s border with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, which extends for roughly 750 kilometers and includes mountainous and, in some places, extremely difficult terrain.

Apparently, this border area has not escaped the close attention of Iran’s armed forces. Repeated missile and drone strikes against the bases of separatist and terrorist groups in the area demonstrate the importance Tehran attaches to this region.

Nevertheless, there is concern that the U.S.-aligned axis may deliberately divert Iran’s attention in this area away from a much more significant development, with strikes on the bases of illegal separatist groups creating a false sense of security.

Israel’s focus on Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government on December 8, 2024, suggests that the regime is seriously pursuing the major geopolitical and strategic project known as the David Corridor.

Under this plan, Israel would seek to connect to northern Iraq through Syrian territory, passing through Kurdish-populated areas of the country, and ultimately reach the areas behind Iran’s borders in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. This would provide Israel with an opportunity to launch a major strike against Iran.

Recent pressure from Washington on the government of Abu Mohammad al-Julani (Ahmed al-Sharaa) is publicly portrayed as an effort to push his forces into a ground confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, this pressure, combined with recent Israeli military activity and attacks inside Syria and the increased presence of Israeli patrol teams on Syrian territory, could also indicate that the David Corridor project is being advanced.

Israel wants to extend this geopolitical and strategic route toward northern Iraq without facing any threat from Syria—and, more importantly, from Turkey.

Ankara has so far opposed the plan, viewing it as a strategic threat to the security of its southern borders, particularly because the proposed route encompasses predominantly Kurdish areas.

Against this backdrop, Trump’s preliminary agreement at the NATO summit in Ankara to provide Turkey with F-35 fighter jets should be viewed either as part of Washington’s effort to incentivize Turkey to cooperate with the project or as an attempt to deceive Ankara.

The situation is reminiscent of the trajectory of ISIS’s advance in 2014, when some of the group’s fiercest fighting took place in northern Syria, particularly during the assault on Kobani (Ayn al-Arab), followed by its advance toward Erbil. Some believed that the group’s push toward Baghdad was largely a diversion or secondary move.

At the time, ISIS received support from several Arab countries in the region, while Turkey was at least not opposed to its advance. Had the group captured Erbil, it could have rapidly reached Iran’s northwestern border.

Before ISIS turned the spearhead of its advance toward Erbil, then-Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani had expressed satisfaction with the situation. For that reason, he rejected then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s request for assistance in fighting ISIS.

Even as ISIS was besieging Baghdad, Barzani continued to push for the separation of Iraqi Kurdistan from a unified Iraq. It was only after no one except the late Qassem Soleimani came to Barzani’s aid in Erbil that he realized ISIS’s original plan was to overrun Iraqi Kurdistan—and Masoud Barzani himself.

One question from those years remains unanswered: Why, while ISIS was rapidly advancing toward the tri-border area of Iran, Turkey and Iraq, did the group simultaneously release a map showing its flag flying in Baku?

Was ISIS’s campaign also part of the David Corridor project? And was Baku part of that project?

It is also worth noting that throughout ISIS’s advance, neither Israel nor Turkey experienced attacks of the scale and devastation inflicted elsewhere by the group.

Although the regional views and approach of Nechirvan Barzani, the current president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, may be considered more understandable and acceptable, his cousin Masrour Barzani, Masoud’s son and the current prime minister of the region, has a markedly different outlook.

The reality is that during Masoud Barzani’s tenure as president of the Kurdistan Region, Israel established an extraordinary degree of influence in northern Iraq. There has also been considerable speculation about Masrour Barzani’s relations with Israel, although there is not enough evidence to make definitive claims on the matter.

In any case, despite the many uncertainties surrounding Ankara’s position, the role of Iraqi Kurds and the lack of sufficient information, the David Corridor project cannot be ignored when assessing the strategic designs of the United States and Israel in the region.