Erbil, Iraq — Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a possible cross-border military operation into Iran, and the United States has asked Iraqi Kurds for their support, Kurdish officials told The Associated Press.
Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most organized part of Iran’s divided opposition, and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a major challenge to the beleaguered authorities in Tehran and could also risk dragging Iraq into further conflict.
Khalil Naderi, an official in the Kurdistan Freedom Party, based in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, said on Wednesday that some of his forces had moved to areas close to the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah Governorate and were waiting on standby.
He added that American officials contacted leaders of a Kurdish opposition group about a possible operation, without providing further details.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration is considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday: “None of our goals are focused on supporting or arming any particular force. So, we are aware of what other entities might do, but our goals are not focused on that.”
Before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, sparking a new war in the Middle East, PAK claimed responsibility for attacks on the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards in response to Tehran’s violence. Suppression of protests. but responsible The group said it did not send forces from Iraq to Iran.
If Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups join the war, it will be the first entry of a major ground force into the battle. Kurdish groups have combat experience from fighting against ISIS.
An official in Komala, another Iranian Kurdish group, said Wednesday that their forces were ready to cross the border within a week to 10 days and were “waiting for the reasons to be appropriate.” He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Kurds in Iran have a long history of grievances and uprisings against both the current Islamic Republic and the monarchy that preceded it. In the era Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi Kurds have been marginalized, oppressed, and sometimes rebelled.
After Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the new theocracy also fought Kurdish rebels. Iranian forces destroyed Kurdish towns and villages in fighting that killed thousands over several months.
While the Kurdish groups share a desire to overthrow the current authorities, they also clash with each other Opposition groups – In particular, the faction led by the former Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, who accused the Kurds of being separatists aiming to divide Iran.
The potential operation has put the leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish region in a sensitive position.
Three Iraqi Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that a call took place Sunday night between US President Donald Trump and Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani — leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two main Kurdish parties in Iraq — to discuss the situation in Iran.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
One official said Trump asked Iraqi Kurds to provide military support to Iranian Kurdish groups in operations in Iran and open the borders to allow Iranian Kurdish groups to move freely back and forth.
When asked about the call and reports that Trump was seeking military support for Iranian Kurdish groups, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said: “He did speak with Kurdish leaders regarding our base that we have in northern Iraq,” but denied that Trump had agreed to a specific plan.
The Iraqi Kurds are concerned that direct involvement in the conflict will lead to a harsh Iranian response, the Iraqi Kurdish official said. The Kurdish region has already witnessed a series of drone and missile attacks by Iran and its allied Iraqi militias in recent days, targeting US military bases and the US consulate in Erbil, as well as the bases of Kurdish groups.
While most attacks have been intercepted, civilian homes have been damaged, and the area is suffering from power outages after a major gas field halted operations due to security concerns.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan confirmed in a statement that Talabani spoke by phone with Trump, who “provided a clarification and vision regarding American goals in the war.” The statement said that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan “believes that the best solution is to return to the negotiating table.”
Spokesmen for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq and Barzani declined to comment.
The Axios news site was the first to report the call between Trump and Kurdish leaders, and CNN reported that the Trump administration is in discussions with Kurdish groups about providing military support.
The presence of armed Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq represents a point of friction between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and Tehran.
He arrived in Iraq in 2023 An agreement with Iran to disarm these groups They were transferred from their bases near the border areas with Iran – where they would likely pose an armed challenge to Tehran – to camps designated by Baghdad.
Their military bases were closed and their movement inside Iraq restricted, but the groups did not give up their weapons.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassem Al-Araji said in a post on the
Al-Araji stressed that Iraq is committed to “preventing any groups from infiltrating or crossing the Iranian border or carrying out terrorist acts from Iraqi territory,” pointing to sending security reinforcements to the border.
In addition to retaliation by Iran, any move by Iraqi Kurds to join a cross-border offensive would likely inflame tensions with Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, which have already claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on Erbil in recent days.
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Narrated by Abdul Zahra from Baghdad. Abby Sewell in Beirut and Konstantin Torobin and Michelle Price in Washington contributed.