This is interesting; while American and Israeli air power is still busily addressing the problem of the Iranian theocracy with a suitable application of high explosives, the remnants of that regime may well now be facing a new threat: There are reports that Iranian Kurdish dissident groups are preparing for an assault out of Iraq, where they are currently holed up, and into Iran, to take on what's left of Iran's ground forces.
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials told The Associated Press.
The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.
Khalil Nadiri an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, based in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region said Wednesday that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were on standby.
He said Kurdish opposition group leaders had been contacted by U.S. officials regarding a potential operation, without giving more details.
The War Department seems to be working on a little plausible deniability, but the Kurds have plenty of hardened fighters. And no matter what their other worries are at the moment, they can hardly afford to ignore an incursion of heavily armed Kurds.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday: “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, triggering a new war in the Middle East, the PAK had claimed attacks on the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for Tehran’s violent crackdown on protests. But an official with the group said it had not sent forces from Iraq into Iran.
If the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups were to join the war, it would be the first entry of a significant ground force into the battle. The Kurdish groups have battle experience from the fight against the Islamic State group.
It would be in the interests of American and Israeli forces to have the Kurds in the field; even a spoiling attack may well draw what's left of Iran's ground forces into the open, where they can be disassembled by allied air power. Add to that the benefit of getting what's left of those forces out of Tehran and other cities, which would make life a lot easier for the Iranian people who are taking to the streets in increasing numbers.
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Details are not yet forthcoming as to when (or, indeed, if) Kurdish forces may strike into Iran. But war is chaotic by its nature, and whichever side is better at dealing with chaos usually ends up winning, and historically, the American military has been pretty good at making chaos work for them. An attack by Kurdish fighters into Iran would be, as pointed out, a spoiling attack, but it might be one that could enable the air powers that now have a steel umbrella over Iran to deal with the last remnants of the theocracy's ground forces.
Update - 6:00 PM Eastern
Fox News is now reporting that thousands of Kurds have crossed from Iraq into Iran, launching a ground offensive.
Update - 6:10 PM Eastern
Aziz Ahmad, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, is pushing back on the reporting that Kurds in Iraq have crossed into Iran, stating, "Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border. This is patently false."
Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border.
— Aziz Ahmad (@azizkahmad) March 4, 2026
This is patently false. https://t.co/MOFdlcvQ9N
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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