Iraq's Kurds are caught in a three-way vise as the Iran war spills across their border:
- They're uncertain, based on President Trump's messaging, whether the U.S. actually wants regime change next door.
- They're under pressure to open the border from Iranian Kurds who want to fight the regime.
- And they're facing a public threat — backed by a private warning — that Iran will retaliate if those militants attack from Iraqi Kurdish soil.
Why it matters: The Kurds of northern Iraq have carved out a stable, semi-autonomous region in one of the world's most volatile neighborhoods. Now, the war next door is threatening to make their neutrality impossible to hold.
