United States

The regime is in a zombie phase, it's dead but still walking, the problem is, is how long does this still walking bit last for."

The personnel numbers of the Iranian regime and its security apparatus ... would still far outnumber them [Kurdish forces],” said Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow and leading expert on Kurdish issues at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank. “They’re far outnumbered, they’re out-weaponed; it’s not feasible.”

Ms Dolzikova said: "Since the attacks in June, the situation on the ground will have changed quite significantly, but we don't actually have visibility of what it looks like, because the IAEA has not had access.” She said the key questions include whether the enriched uranium survived, whether centrifuges - the machines used to enrich uranium - survived, and whether Iran has the capabilities to actually build a weapon. It is also not known whether Iran has warheads to put a weapon on.