Iranian Kurdish dissident groups, who live in northern Iraq, are preparing for a possible military operation in Iran. The US has asked the Iraqi Kurds to support them, according to Kurdish officials interviewed by the Associated Press.
Kurdish groups are considered the best organized segment of Iran’s fragmented opposition and have thousands of trained fighters. Its entry into the war could pose a challenge to authorities in Tehran and drag Iraq deeper into the conflict.
Khalil Nadiri, commander of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), based in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, said yesterday that some of his forces have moved to the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah Province and are on standby.
He said leaders of Kurdish opposition groups had been contacted by US officials about a possible operation, without providing further details.
The news site Axios was the first to report the connection between the US and Kurdish leaders. CNN stated that the White House was negotiating with Kurdish groups to provide military support.
Asked whether Donald Trump’s administration would be considering arming the Iranian Kurds, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was vague. “None of our objectives are based on supporting or arming any specific force.”
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Land force
Before the US and Israel attacked Iran, the PAK claimed attacks against the Revolutionary Guard – the military wing of the Islamic regime – in retaliation for the violent repression of peaceful protests in Tehran. But a commander with the group said it did not send troops from Iraq to Iran.
If the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups decide to join the war, it would be the first time that a significant ground force has entered the conflict. Kurdish groups have combat experience gained in the fight against the Islamic State.
A representative of Komala, another Iranian Kurdish group, said yesterday that its forces are ready to cross the border, within a week to ten days, and are awaiting “suitable conditions”. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The Kurds in Iran have a long history of grievances and uprisings against the Ayatollahs’ regime and the monarchy that preceded it. During the reign of Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlevi, the Kurds were marginalized and repressed, and at times rebelled.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the new theocracy also fought Kurdish insurgents. Iranian forces have destroyed Kurdish cities and villages in fighting that has killed thousands of people.
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Although they share a desire to depose the Iranian regime, the Kurds have also come into conflict with other opposition factions – most notably the organization led by the shah’s son, who is also called Reza Pahlevi. He accused the Kurds of being separatists.
Iraq
The possible operation has placed the leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish region in a delicate position. Three Iraqi Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that there was a phone call on Sunday between Trump and Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani – leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties – to discuss the situation in Iran.
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One of the officials said Trump asked Iraqi Kurds to militarily support Iranian Kurds in operations in Iran and open the border to allow them to move freely. The White House confirmed the call but denied that Trump had agreed to a specific plan.
The decision to arm the Kurds to stimulate a revolt would be the most viable solution to overthrowing the Iranian regime, one of Trump’s objectives, since bombings alone would be ineffective. The idea is to repeat Türkiye’s strategy, which armed and financed the rebels who overthrew Bashar Assad and took power in Syria in 2024.
