WASHINGTON: Iranian Kurdish armed groups based in Iraq are preparing units that could enter Iran, potentially opening a new front in the widening regional conflict, according to Iraqi officials and senior Kurdish figures cited by The New York Times and Reuters.
The preparations come as the United States and Israel intensify their military campaign against Iran.
Officials and Kurdish leaders, cited by The New York Times, said that Iranian Kurdish forces in northern Iraq have begun organising armed units capable of crossing the border into Iran if a decision is made to launch an incursion.
However, the White House has denied approving any such plan.
White House denies insurgency plan
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said reports that US President Donald Trump had authorised Kurdish forces to start an insurgency inside Iran were “completely false”.
She made the remarks during a briefing on Wednesday after reports emerged suggesting Washington could support Kurdish fighters entering Iranian territory.
People familiar with the deliberations, as cited by The New York Times, said that the White House has not yet decided whether to support such an operation.
Some officials also said the decision might ultimately rest with Kurdish leadership rather than Washington or Israel, The New York Times reported.
Covert support and military planning
According to The New York Times, the US Central Intelligence Agency previously supplied small arms to Iranian Kurdish groups as part of a covert programme aimed at destabilising Iran.
The effort reportedly began before the current war.
However, according to The New York Times, the CIA has declined to comment on the programme.
Former officials and analysts cautioned that the Kurdish groups lack the heavy weaponry required for a large-scale invasion.
The CIA assistance reportedly includes only small arms. Kurdish forces do not possess tanks or other heavy equipment capable of threatening Iran’s government, The New York Times reported.
Some officials familiar with the discussions, as cited by The New York Times, warned that even if Kurdish fighters crossed the border, they would not be able to topple Iran’s government or significantly influence the country’s leadership.
Israel seeks to open northern front
Israel’s military is working to create conditions that would allow Kurdish forces to establish positions in north-western Iran, according to Bloomberg.
The reported plan aims to weaken Tehran’s control in the region and put additional pressure on Iranian forces already engaged in the broader conflict.
Kurdish militias consulting with US
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Iranian Kurdish militias have been consulting with the United States about whether and how to attack Iranian security forces in western Iran.
Three sources familiar with the discussions, cited by Reuters, said the coalition of Iranian Kurdish groups, based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region along the Iran-Iraq border, has been training for a possible operation.
The aim would be to weaken Iran’s military presence in the area and create space for an uprising inside the country following the US-Israeli bombing campaign that began on Saturday, two of the sources told Reuters.
The joint US-Israeli military campaign killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with several other senior officials.
A final decision on whether to launch the Kurdish operation has not been made, the sources said.
Kurdish groups request US military support
According to Reuters, Kurdish groups have requested US military support, including potential assistance from the CIA in providing weapons.
Officials in both Erbil and Baghdad have also been in contact with the Trump administration in recent days regarding the situation, the sources said, as cited by Reuters.
CNN earlier reported the CIA’s involvement in supporting Kurdish groups and the possibility of a ground operation.
Reuters stated it could not independently confirm the extent of the CIA’s involvement or whether US forces might enter Iranian territory.
The CIA declined to comment, while the White House and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
The Pentagon maintains two military bases in Erbil that support the international coalition fighting Islamic State militants.
Kurdish leaders in contact with Trump
Several Iranian Kurdish leaders told The New York Times that President Trump had recently spoken with Kurdish leaders in Iraq.
According to two Iranian Kurdish officials and two Iraqi security officials cited by the newspaper, Trump asked Kurdish leaders Massoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani to enable Iranian Kurdish fighters based in Iraq to move into Iran.
One Kurdish official said Trump also held a separate call with Mustafa Hijri, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, to discuss sending fighters across the border.
Leavitt confirmed that Trump had spoken with Kurdish leaders but declined to discuss details of the conversations.
“The president did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq,” she said.
Regional concerns
The move has raised concerns in neighbouring Turkiye and Iraq, both of which are sensitive to Kurdish military activity near their borders.
Turkiy said on Thursday that it was closely following the actions of the Iranian Kurdish group, which it said threatened Iran’s security and regional stability.
Turkiye, a NATO member and Iran’s neighbour, is currently working on securing peace with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.
“The activities of groups that fuel ethnic separatism, such as the terrorist organisation PJAK, negatively affect not only Iran’s security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” Turkiye’s defence ministry told a weekly press briefing in Ankara.
The ministry added that Turkiye’s state institutions were all closely following actions by the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an outlawed militant group that has links to the PKK, which Turkey, the US and the European Union designate as a terrorist group.
