The C.I.A. has given small weapons to Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq in a covert program that began before the current war.

Pro-American, Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq are preparing armed units that could enter Iran, creating a potential new front in an already expanding conflict, according to Iraqi officials and senior members of Iranian Kurdish groups.

The C.I.A. has previously given small arms to the Iranian Kurdish forces as part of a covert program to destabilize Iran, an effort that began before the current war, according to people familiar with the effort.

But in a briefing on Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said reports that President Trump had agreed to any plan for the Kurds to launch an insurgency in Iran were “completely false.”

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