The United States and Israel are said to be exploring plans to arm Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Iran as part of a strategy to challenge the regime in Tehran.
The reports come as Iran’s military claimed it had launched strikes on Kurdish group headquarters to prevent them from launching an insurgency with alleged backing from Western powers.
President Donald Trump is understood to have held phone calls with Kurdish leaders in both Iraq and Iran, encouraging them to begin an armed offensive in Iran’s north-west.
Washington’s links with Kurdish militias stretch back more than two decades. The CIA has previously supplied small arms to Iranian Kurdish groups as part of efforts to destabilise the Iranian government.
However, the White House has publicly dismissed suggestions that a new military alliance is being formed. Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt described speculation about a US-Kurdish partnership as “completely false”.
Despite the denial, a senior Iranian Kurdish official told CNN that fighters would take part in a ground offensive inside Iran with support from both the United States and Israel.
He said: “We believe we have a big chance.”
Israel has also reportedly carried out strikes on security posts in Kurdish areas of north-western Iran, in what sources claim could be an attempt to clear the way for Kurdish forces based in Iraq to cross the border.
Military analysts believe a Kurdish incursion from Iraq could place additional pressure on Tehran’s network of militias.
Kurdish groups are among the few opposition movements inside Iran that possess weapons. But sources told the Financial Times that any ground assault would require more arms, as well as American intelligence support and the establishment of a no-fly zone.
The proposed operation is said to have been given the codename Zhina — the middle name of Mahsa Amini, the Kurdish woman whose death in police custody in 2022 triggered mass protests across Iran.
Yet the idea of Kurdish forces entering Iran also risks deepening divisions among opposition groups and could drag neighbouring countries into the conflict.
Tensions are already emerging between the Kurdish regional government in Iraq and Iranian Kurdish political factions, which formed an anti-regime coalition last month.
Qubad Talabani, the deputy prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, insisted on Wednesday that the territory “will completely keep its neutrality”. Taking sides alongside US and Israeli forces could inflame rivalries between Kurdish parties and armed factions.
Iran has already responded forcefully to the possibility of Kurdish involvement.
Its military said it had launched missile strikes against Iranian Kurdish opposition headquarters located across the border in northern Iraq.
In a statement reported by Iranian state media, the armed forces said they targeted “Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles”.
The BBC confirmed that one person was killed and three others injured in the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The sites hit belonged to different Kurdish opposition organisations.
Kurdish movements have long pushed for greater autonomy or independence, bringing them into frequent conflict with Tehran. Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East and are spread across Iraq, Syria, Iran, Armenia and Turkey — yet they have never achieved a permanent nation state.
According to Axios, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering whether Kurdish figures could play a role in shaping a future leadership in Iran.
An official told the US news website: “It is Netanyahu’s view that the Kurds are going to come out of the woodwork.”
Others believe Israel has historically favoured a restoration of the Iranian monarchy, led by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah.
But Pahlavi is widely seen as lacking significant backing inside Iran.
As the conflict entered its sixth day, Iran launched fresh waves of attacks against US and Israeli bases.
Israel has responded with military operations in Tehran and further strikes targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
