Trump reaches out to Kurdish groups as US explores strategy to challenge Iran’s regime

The Trump administration, preparing for the possibility of additional American casualties and weighing whether to deploy US troops inside Iran, has begun contacting Iranian opposition groups as potential partners in efforts to destabilize Tehran’s leadership. According to several people familiar with the discussions, US President Donald Trump recently held phone conversations with Kurdish leaders in both Iran and Iraq. During those calls, he reportedly proposed that Kurdish forces could move into parts of western Iran with the backing of extensive American air support.

A senior figure from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two dominant parties governing Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, said Washington asked Iraqi Kurdish authorities not to block Iranian Kurdish militants operating from Iraqi territory. The request also included providing logistical assistance to those groups if they mobilize against Iran. The same official said Trump made it clear during a call with PUK leader Bafel Talabani that Kurdish leaders must decide whether to align themselves with the United States and Israel or with Iran in the current conflict.

Another official from the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), led by Masoud Barzani, confirmed the conversation took place but suggested the real challenge is not the number of armed militias available. Instead, he said success would depend on how much support Kurdish forces can attract from inside Iran. Trump also reportedly spoke with Mustafa Hijri, who heads the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the oldest Iranian Kurdish opposition organization. The PDKI is part of a newly formed coalition of six anti-government Kurdish groups that announced their alliance last week from Iraqi Kurdistan.

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In a statement released on Wednesday, the party called on Iranian soldiers and security personnel, particularly those stationed in Kurdish areas, to abandon their posts and stop supporting Iran’s ruling system. However, Iraqi Kurdish authorities face significant risks if they allow their territory to become a staging ground against Iran. For years, they have sheltered Iranian Kurdish groups under the condition that they do not organize attacks on Tehran from Iraqi soil. If they break that understanding and U.S.-Israeli efforts fail, they could face retaliation from Iran.

Compared with their Iranian counterparts, Iraqi Kurdish groups are more structured and powerful, controlling their own regional administration and economy despite internal rivalries and tensions with Iraq’s central government in Baghdad.

Historically, Iranian Kurdish movements have primarily pushed for regional autonomy rather than outright independence or regime change. Rumors spread rapidly on Wednesday night, claiming Kurdish groups had already begun entering Iran from Iraq. Kurdish coalition representatives denied the claims. Iranian state media nevertheless reported that Tehran launched a “preemptive” strike against targets in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

On Thursday, Peshawa Hawramani, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said the regional administration does not want to be involved in actions that escalate the conflict. Although Trump has publicly encouraged Iranians to overthrow their government, he has also hinted that parts of the existing political structure could remain after the current leadership is removed. Such an approach would resemble the US strategy used in Venezuela after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump had spoken with Kurdish leaders regarding a US military base in northern Iraq. However, she denied reports that Washington had agreed to arm Iranian Kurdish groups.

The CIA declined to comment on the issue. The White House also did not respond to questions about potential outreach to other Iranian opposition factions, including Baluchi groups or the exiled organization Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK). Kurds make up about 10 million people in Iran across five western provinces. They are also a major minority in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. In each country, Kurdish communities have struggled politically and sometimes militarily for greater rights and self-governance, occasionally with US backing.

Yet Kurdish movements have frequently felt abandoned by Washington. Most recently, the US ended its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led force that had been a key partner against the Islamic State, as the Trump administration sought closer ties with Syria’s new government. Even among themselves, Iranian Kurdish groups have long been divided, which raises doubts about whether they could unite politically if the current Iranian government were replaced. Among these groups, only the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) is believed to possess a meaningful armed capability, largely because of its links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant Kurdish organization operating in parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

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