Iran Launches Preemptive Strikes on Kurdish Bases as Ground Offensive Threat Escalates
Tehran strikes opposition positions in Iraq as CIA-backed Kurdish forces prepare cross-border campaign that could open new front in US-Israeli war.
Iran’s intelligence ministry struck Kurdish fighter positions in northern Iraq on Thursday, claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on groups preparing to enter Iranian territory from the western border.
The operation marks a shift from aerial bombardment to preemptive ground-targeting as Iranian Kurdish opposition forces prepare for potential cross-border military operations in coordination with US and Israeli intelligence agencies. CIA support for Iranian Kurdish groups began several months before the war, according to Kurdish and Kurdistan Regional Government officials.
Tehran Targets Opposition Coalition
The strikes, conducted jointly with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, destroyed bases and ammunition depots belonging to Kurdish opposition groups. Local sources reported that attacks targeted the headquarters of Komala, an Iranian Kurdish armed group, in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province. The IRGC claimed to have struck several Kurdish bases via three ballistic missile attacks.
Five major Kurdish opposition groups declared the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on February 22, placing regime overthrow at the top of their agenda. The coalition includes the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle (Khabat), and Komala.
CIA Coordination and Trump’s Direct Outreach
The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, and the Trump administration has been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing military support, according to multiple people familiar with the talks told CNN. President Donald Trump spoke with the president of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), Mustafa Hijri, on Tuesday.
Trump called Iraqi Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani on Sunday night to discuss the situation, with one official stating Trump asked the Iraqi Kurds to militarily support Iranian Kurdish groups and open the border to allow free movement, according to The Associated Press. When asked about Kurdish forces crossing the border, Trump told Reuters on Friday that it would be “wonderful” and that he would “be all for it.”
“We have been planning for a long time, and now that conditions are more favourable, there is a strong probability of action.”
— Babasheikh Hosseini, Secretary-General of Khabat Organisation
One person familiar with the discussions said the idea would be for Kurdish armed forces to take on Iranian security forces and pin them down to make it easier for unarmed Iranians in major cities to turn out without being massacred again as they were during unrest in January, reported CNN. Other scenarios centered on whether Kurds could take and hold territory in northern Iran to create a buffer zone for Israel.
Operational Preparations and Denials
According to a Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan official, Kurdish fighters affiliated with PJAK began taking combat positions inside Iranian territory on March 2, as reported by i24NEWS. The official stated that Iranian forces evacuated the border city of Mariwan on March 3 and began establishing defensive positions. However, on March 5, PJAK, PDKI, PAK and Komala denied that a Kurdish offensive in Iran had started.
Israeli airstrikes have targeted Iranian military positions along the Iran-Iraq border, degrading command nodes, air defenses, and logistics networks that previously constrained Kurdish insurgent activity, according to Atlantic Council analysts. The human rights organization Hengaw stated that strikes already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iranian security personnel in Kurdish regions, which may have been underreported.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Dilemma
A senior Kurdistan Regional Government official described the situation as “very dangerous” but said “what can we do? We cannot stand against America. We are very frightened,” reported CNN. “If this ground offensive fails, we do not know what Iran’s reaction against the Kurdistan region of Iraq would be,” a senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan official told The Washington Post.
The presence of armed Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq has been a friction point between Baghdad and Tehran. Iraq reached a 2023 agreement with Iran to disarm the groups and move them from border areas into designated camps. According to security sources cited by Alhurra, the Kurdistan Region has been targeted by more than 200 Iranian ballistic missiles and drones since February 28.
Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, said Thursday the autonomous region would not be part of any military confrontation or escalation. Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Iraq will under no circumstances allow any threat to be directed at Iran from Iraqi territory, according to Axios.
Strategic Assessment
The Zagros terrain and limited entry routes make a large-scale invasion unlikely, favouring small-unit infiltration and insurgent tactics, according to analysis by Special Eurasia. US intelligence assessments have consistently indicated that Iranian Kurds don’t currently have the influence or resources to bolster a successful uprising against the government, said one source.
The Kurdistan Freedom Party has been the most active militarily in recent months, claiming multiple attacks on IRGC positions in Kermanshah and Lorestan provinces even before the war started. PJAK’s armed wing, the Eastern Kurdistan Units, is assessed to be fielding the most capable fighters, many of them women, operating from the Qandil Mountains.
| Group | Strength | Profile |
|---|---|---|
| PJAK | Several thousand | Most capable fighters; PKK-linked; operates from Qandil Mountains |
| PAK | Hundreds | Most militarily active; US-trained during anti-ISIS campaign |
| PDKI | Hundreds | Oldest established group; led by Mustafa Hijri |
| Komala | Hundreds | Leftist ideology; consolidated in Sulaymaniyah |
Turkey voiced opposition Thursday to Iranian Kurdish groups’ possible involvement, with its defense ministry warning that PJAK’s activities “negatively affect not only Iran’s security but also the overall peace and stability of the region.”
What to Watch
Whether Iraqi Kurdish authorities can maintain neutrality under direct US pressure will determine the viability of any sustained Kurdish ground campaign. Any attempt to arm Iranian Kurdish groups requires Iraqi Kurdish cooperation to transit weapons and use Iraqi Kurdistan as a launching ground. The contradiction between Washington’s public denials and private coordination creates operational ambiguity that could leave Kurdish forces exposed if political winds shift.
The terrain advantage favors defenders: the Zagros Mountain Range acts as a natural wall with elevations exceeding 3,000 meters, forcing invading forces into predictable choke points. Any Kurdish offensive will likely remain limited to guerrilla infiltration rather than territorial conquest, making regime destabilization dependent on whether strikes can catalyze broader urban unrest inside Iran—a scenario that failed during January’s protests when security forces killed thousands. Without air superiority and logistical depth, Kurdish forces risk becoming what one US official termed “cannon fodder” in a proxy conflict with uncertain commitment from their backers.