Kurdish dissidents say they are preparing to fight Iran with US backing
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq say they are preparing for the possibility of launching cross-border operations into Iran as tensions escalate in the region. Kurdish officials said the United States has reached out to Iraqi Kurdish leaders about supporting the Iranian Kurdish factions, raising the possibility that the well-armed opposition groups could enter the conflict if conditions allow.
The Kurdish dissident organizations, which operate from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, are widely considered among the most organized segments of the fragmented Iranian opposition. Officials say the groups maintain thousands of trained fighters and have experience from previous conflicts, including the battle against the Islamic State. Their participation in the war could pose a major challenge to Iran’s leadership in Tehran, while also risking broader instability by drawing neighboring Iraq more directly into the conflict.
Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, known as PAK, said some of the group’s forces have already been moved to positions near the Iranian border in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province. According to Nadiri, the fighters are currently on standby and ready if an operation is launched. He added that leaders of several Kurdish opposition groups had been contacted by U.S. officials regarding the possibility of an operation, though he did not provide details about the discussions.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed questions about the situation but said Washington’s goals were not dependent on supporting or arming any specific faction. He noted that while the United States is aware of the actions of other groups operating in the region, the country’s military objectives are not centered on backing a particular force.
Prior to the outbreak of the latest conflict, which intensified after the United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iran, PAK had claimed responsibility for attacks targeting Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The group said the operations were retaliation for the Iranian government’s violent suppression of protests inside the country. However, a PAK official said the group had not yet sent fighters from Iraq across the border into Iran.
If Kurdish groups were to enter the conflict, it would mark the first involvement of a significant ground force in the war. Many of the fighters have battlefield experience from years of combat against extremist organizations and other militant groups in the region.
An official with Komala, another Iranian Kurdish opposition group, said their forces are ready to move within a week to ten days if the conditions become favorable. The official, speaking anonymously because of security concerns, said the fighters are waiting for the right circumstances before launching any cross-border activity.
Kurds in Iran have long had a tense relationship with the country’s central government, and the region has experienced repeated uprisings over the decades. During the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Kurdish communities were often marginalized and subject to repression, leading to periodic rebellions.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution established Iran’s current theocratic system, Kurdish insurgent movements again clashed with government forces. Fighting between Iranian troops and Kurdish militants resulted in the destruction of towns and villages and left thousands dead over several months of intense conflict.
Despite their shared opposition to the Iranian government, Kurdish factions have sometimes clashed politically with other opposition groups. One of the most prominent disagreements has been with supporters of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former shah, who has accused Kurdish organizations of seeking to break apart the country and create a separate Kurdish state.
The potential for Kurdish involvement in the conflict has also placed leaders in Iraq’s Kurdish region in a difficult position. Officials there must weigh the pressure from Washington against the risk of retaliation from Iran, which has already carried out attacks against targets in the Kurdish region.
According to several Iraqi Kurdish officials, a phone call took place Sunday night between President Donald Trump and Kurdish political leaders Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani, who head the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan respectively. During the call, the leaders discussed the situation in Iran and the broader conflict.
One official said Trump asked the Iraqi Kurdish leadership to provide military support for Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and to allow them to move more freely across the border. The request reportedly included allowing the fighters to cross back and forth between Iraq and Iran during potential operations.
The White House confirmed that Trump spoke with Kurdish leaders but said the conversation focused primarily on the U.S. military presence in northern Iraq. Officials denied that the president had approved any specific plan involving Kurdish groups.
Leaders in Iraq’s Kurdish region are reportedly concerned that openly supporting military operations against Iran could trigger severe retaliation. In recent days, the region has already experienced multiple drone and missile attacks believed to be linked to Iran or allied militia groups in Iraq.
Several of the strikes targeted U.S. military installations and the American consulate in Irbil, as well as locations connected to Kurdish opposition groups. Although many of the projectiles were intercepted, some civilian homes were damaged. The attacks have also disrupted energy production after a major gas field halted operations due to security concerns, causing electricity shortages across the region.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan later confirmed that Talabani spoke with Trump by phone and said the U.S. president outlined Washington’s goals in the ongoing conflict. However, the party said it believes the best outcome would come through diplomacy and renewed negotiations rather than further military escalation.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s central government has taken steps to tighten security along the border with Iran to prevent armed groups from crossing. Baghdad has long faced pressure from Tehran over the presence of Iranian Kurdish militants operating from Iraqi territory.
In 2023, Iraq reached an agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and relocate them away from border areas. Under that arrangement, their bases near the frontier were shut down and their movements restricted within designated camps inside Iraq. However, the groups did not fully surrender their weapons.
Iraq’s national security adviser, Qassim al-Araji, said Iranian officials have urged Baghdad to ensure that no opposition fighters cross the border to carry out attacks. He said Iraq remains committed to preventing armed groups from launching operations against Iran from its territory.
Security reinforcements have since been deployed along the frontier to monitor the situation. Iraqi authorities also fear that any Kurdish cross-border operation could further inflame tensions with Iran-backed militias operating inside Iraq, which have already claimed responsibility for several recent missile and drone strikes in the Kurdish region.
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