Iran said it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, claiming they planned to cross the western borders.
The Iranian strikes followed media reports that the US was in discussions with Iranian Kurdish fighters in Iraq to launch a cross-border military operation in Iran, in support of the ongoing US-Israeli strikes which started on February 28, 2026.
Striking Kurdish Posts
On Thursday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry confirmed it targeted the headquarters of “separatist groups” who planned to cross through its western borders, inflicting heavy losses on them.
“We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” the Ministry said in a statement, carried by IRNA news agency on Telegram.
The statement added that Iranian forces are working with “noble Kurds” to foil the “Israeli-American” plan to attack Iranian soil.
US-Kurdish Discussions
The US has made consultations with Iranian Kurdish militias to coordinate potential operations against security forces in western Iran, reported Reuters citing three sources with knowledge of the issue.
The aim of the potential incursion is to allow Iranian opposition groups to rise against the regime, following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and multiple senior officials in the US-Israeli attack, according to two of the sources.
The Iranian Kurdish groups are operating along the Iran-Iraq border in the Iraqi Kurdistan semi-autonomous region. The CNN reported that the CIA was in talks with these Kurdish fighters to provide them with military support to spark a popular uprising in Iran.
In light of this, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the US administration was considering providing military support to any force.
“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,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Iraqi Kurds Position
US President Donald Trump had reportedly contacted two of Iraqi Kurdistan’s senior leaders to discuss the situation in Iran.
In this context, three Iraqi Kurdish officials told the Associated Press (AP) that Trump spoke with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, and Bafel Talabani, the head the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK.
According to one official, Trump asked the Iraqi Kurdish leaders to provide military support for the Iranian Kurdish groups in operations in Iran and to open the border to allow freedom of movement for the Iranian Kurdish groups.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied Trump had asked for their military support. “He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq.”
Fox News reported on Wednesday night that thousands of Kurdish fighters launched a ground offensive in Iran. However, Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, dismissed the report.
“Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border. This is patently false,” he wrote on X.
Iranian Kurds Ready to Fight
The Iraqi-based Iranian Kurdish groups, for their part, are ready to launch a cross-border military operation in Iran, the AP reported citing Kurdish officials.
According to Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, some of the party’s forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were on standby. Moreover, he confirmed that American officials had contacted the group’s leaders to discuss a potential operation.
On Wednesday, an official with Komala, one of the Iranian Kurdish groups, signaled the group’s forces readiness to cross the border within a “week to 10 days,” saying they were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable.”
Furthermore, the New York Times reported that the CIA has provided the Iranian Kurdish groups with small arms as part of a covert program to destabilize Iran, which began before the current war. However, these arms lack tanks or heavy weaponry required to launch a ground invasion or threaten the Iranian regime.
Iranian Threat
Iran has warned the opposition Kurdish groups against any moves to exploit the current situation. In light of this, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said that these groups should not view the situation as an opportunity.
“Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action. We will not tolerate them in any way,” he said, as reported by the Iranian state TV. He also confirmed that the Iranian armed forces are in full control of the situation.
