What do we know about a potential Kurdish attack on Iran?

If the White House does not rule out the possibility of a US ground offensive,in Iran entirely to achieve the goals of the war.Whether it is a change in the regimedestruction of missile capabilitiesand the end of the nuclear programSuch an operation would be extremely politically risky for Donald Trump just months before the midterm elections.

On Wednesday, March 4, Trump administration spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, however, "it's an option on the table for the president" 1.

- The CIA and Mossad provided tactical support to Kurdish groups in Iraq before the start of Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion on Saturday, February 28.

- Some sources told CNN on Wednesday, March 3 that US intelligence services began arming these groups several months ago.

Trump called two Iraqi Kurdish leaders, Massoud Barzani (head of the KDP, an Iraqi Kurdish party) and Bafel Talabani (head of the PUK, also an Iraqi Kurdish party), on March 1, the day after the war began, to "discuss the US military operation" and how the US and the Kurds can cooperate, according to US mission sources.

- In addition to military support, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has reportedly pledged "political support to the autonomous Kurdish region of Iran" if the Iranian regime collapses.3

The autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region, located on the border with Iran, unites several Kurdish armed and political factions, some of whom are Iranian fighters.There are currently an estimated 9 million Kurds living in Iran (10% of the total population), mainly in western Iran, along the borders with Iraq and Turkey.About 40 million Kurds live in Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

These Iranian Kurdish groups could view the war waged by the United States and Israel as an opportunity to move toward creating an independent region in Iran and perhaps creating a new state in the future.

- A few days before the start of the American-Israeli operation against Tehran, on February 22, five Iranian Kurdish groups - the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), the Party for Freedom in Kurdistan (PAK), the Iranian Kurdistan Chabat Organization and the Komala government announced the Tehran Party4.

- According to the leader of Komala Abdullah Mohtadi, this is the first time that all the main Kurdish parties have joined the new coalition.

These Iraqi-based Iranian groups have several thousand troops on the border with Iran and control strategic areas.

- In order to prepare the ground for a potential offensive, on the 5th the Israeli army launched a fierce attack on military bases, border guards, police stations and regional security centers in the Kurdish provinces of western Iran.

- Similarly, the Israeli-US air campaign targeted a number of targets, particularly in Tehran, associated with Iran's repressive apparatus to undermine the regime's ability to target the Kurdish population in the event of clashes on the ground.

The Iranian army has attacked the bases of several Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq in recent days.In particular, a drone attack was carried out on the Habat Organization camp in Iranian Kurdistan on Thursday, March 5, and on the evening of March 6.Some of these attacks are carried out from Iraqi territory, where Tehran-backed groups, which are also targeted by the USA and Israel, operate.

- Such involvement will be complicated by Ankara's closeness to Washington, especially within the framework of NATO.

- Yesterday, Thursday, March 5, Turkish Defense Ministry Spokesman Zeke Akturk said that Ankara closely monitors the activities of the "Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK)", which is considered a branch of the PKK, and "that Turkey supports the territorial integrity of neighboring countries".

- Rachel Wolf, "Leavitt says ground troops are not currently being considered in Iran, and doesn't rule it out," Fox News, March 4, 2026.

- Natasha Bertrand, Alaina Traine, Zachary Cohen, Clarissa Ward, and Vasco Cotovio, "CIA Working to Arm Kurdish Forces to Detonate Iran Rebellion," CNN, March 4, 2026.

- Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo, "Mossad-Backed Kurds, CIA Could Lead Next Phase of Iran War," Axios, 2026March 4

- Seth Franzman, “Iranian Kurdish Groups Unite with Tehran Regime, Iraqi Militants Threaten Kurdistan Region,” Long War Magazine, February 22, 2026.

- Margherita Stancati, Anat Peled and Alexander Ward, “Why the first shots in Iran's ground war could come from the Kurds,” The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2026.

- Asad Baig, "Iranian Kurdish group launches drone attack in Iraq's Kurdistan Region", Al Jazeera, 6 March 2026.