What to know about the Kurds and their potential involvement in the Iran war
U.S. President Donald Trump and the heads of Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties discussed the situation on Sunday, three officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
As Israel and the United States continue to attack Iran, the addition of armed Kurds would significantly strain Iranian defenses but also risk drawing Iraq, where some Iranian Kurdish groups have bases, further into the conflict.
You can follow our live broadcast of the Iran-Israel war here.
Let’s take a look at the Kurds and their relations in the Middle East:
Who are the Kurds?
Kurds are among the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world; Approximately 30 million of them live as minorities in Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Syria. They speak their own language, various dialects, and most are Sunni Muslims.
Although the Kurds never had their own state, they govern a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq and have de facto ruled much of northeastern Syria for years. Many waged rebel campaigns with the aim of establishing their own nation, called Kurdistan. Iran’s 9 million Kurds live mostly in a region along the country’s western borders with Iraq and Türkiye. There is a long history of grievance and rebellion against both the current Islamic Republic and the monarchy that preceded it.
Before the war, Amnesty International said Kurds suffered “systemic discrimination” in Iran and that in the past “security forces have killed or injured many unarmed Kurdish cross-border couriers (kulbar) with impunity”.
What is the Kurdish opposition in Iran?
A number of Kurdish opposition groups have taken up arms against Iranian authorities over the years.
Some have set up bases in neighboring Iraq, a point of friction between Tehran and the central Iraqi government in Baghdad until 2023, when they agree to disarm Iranian Kurdish groups.
Before the current war, five Iranian Kurdish groups formed a coalition dedicated to overthrowing the Islamic Republic and establishing the Kurdish people’s right to self-determination. A sixth group joined on Thursday.
“For the first time, all major Kurdish parties have come together in a new coalition; a historic step towards shaping a new future for the Kurds and a democratic Iran,” said Abdullah Mohtadi, secretary general of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
But joining with other Iranian opposition groups to oust authorities in Tehran may be difficult.
What is the Kurds’ history with the USA? Kurds are rarely on the winning side in their relations with US presidents.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford failed to protect the Kurds from the rout of Iraqi forces.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan did not prevent Iraqi forces from using chemical weapons against the Kurds.
In 1990, President George Bush encouraged Kurds to revolt against Saddam Hussein after invading Kuwait, but stood aside when Iraqi forces brutally suppressed the rebellion.
And in January, Trump allowed Syrian forces to seize Kurdish territory won during the Syrian civil war and in bloody clashes against the Islamic State group.
Where does Türkiye stand?
Türkiye, a key member of NATO and a host of potential war refugees, is unlikely to accept Western arms transfers to Kurdish guerrillas, even if their target is Iran.
Türkiye has waged a brutal military campaign since 1984 against an armed Kurdish insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spread into neighboring Iraq and Syria.
Turkey on Thursday said it opposed the possible involvement of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the conflict in Iran, warning of further instability in the region.
Türkiye considers the main Kurdish opposition group, PJAK, a terrorist group with links to separatists fighting against Türkiye. Türkiye’s defense ministry said on Thursday that PJAK’s activities “negatively affect not only Iran’s security, but also the overall peace and stability of the region.”
What is the situation in Iraq? Violence has already erupted in Kurdish territory that spans the border between Iran and Iraq.
While Israel and the United States hit targets across Iran, Iranian forces and their allies in Iraq launched missiles and drones targeting U.S. military bases and the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, as well as the bases of Iranian Kurdish groups.
Khalil Nadiri, an official of the Kurdistan Freedom Party in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, said on Wednesday that some forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were on standby.
In January, the group said it had carried out raids in Iran amid an intense crackdown on protests. State media then labeled them “terrorists” without providing any evidence to support the claim, a crime punishable by death in Iran.
Meanwhile, officials from Iraq’s Kurdish regional administration and Kurdish political parties in Iraq said they did not want attacks on Iran from their territory for fear of a harsh reaction.
Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Peshawa Hawramani said in his statement that “the allegations that we are part of the plan to arm the Kurdish opposition parties and send them to Iranian territory are completely unfounded” and that the Iraqi Kurdish parties do not want to “expand the war and tension in the region.”
