Revealed: New details of phone calls between Trump and Iraqi Kurdish leaders

Sky News has obtained a detailed insight into the phone calls between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq at the start of the war last weekend.

There has been considerable speculation about the calls and their content, which has led to rumours and claims about the Kurds launching a ground operation into Iran. Sky News can reveal that Mr Trump did not ask Kurdish armed groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan to launch a ground incursion into Iran when he spoke to political leaders on the phone, and there is no covert CIA operation currently under way to arm the groups.

My source, who is a high-ranking and trusted member of the Iraqi Kurdistan political elite, has intimate knowledge of the details of the phone call between Mr Trump and Bafel Talabani - head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Iran war latest: follow live This person spoke to me on the condition of anonymity and said the phone call between the two men happened last weekend, when the war began and lasted around 10 minutes.

In the call, the US president thanked Mr Talabani and the Kurdish forces for assisting the American military in northern Iraq and in Syria over many years. "Mr Trump was phoning to express his thanks, and his need for his [Mr Talabani's] wisdom, experience, and his relations in the region." "He didn't ask for anything, he didn't suggest they invade anywhere and didn't discuss arms or the CIA in any way," the source added.

This new information counters reports that there is pressure being applied on Kurdish leaders by Mr Trump to cross the border, and reports of active CIA involvement in a plan on the ground. That's "an outright lie, it didn't happen.