As the United States and Israel intensify military strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump is weighing whether Kurdish fighters could help open a new front against Tehran.
The comments have drawn fresh attention to the Kurds, one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without their own country and a population that has repeatedly found itself aligned with Washington’s military goals while pursuing very different political ambitions.
Trump has reportedly spoken with Kurdish leaders as part of ongoing discussions as the administration considers backing militias and other allies rather than committing U.S. troops to on-the-ground operations, but the White House said no agreement was in place.
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In the event of a partnership, Kurdish troops, armed with U.S. weapons, would do the fighting on the ground while having protection from U.S. forces controlling the airspace.
The possibility of Kurdish involvement has raised a broader question: Who exactly are the Kurds, and why might they play a role in the war in Iran?
A stateless nation spread across the Middle East
The Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without their own country, with an estimated population of 30 to 40 million people living primarily across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
The mountainous region where Kurdish communities live is commonly referred to as Kurdistan, though it has never been internationally recognized as an independent state.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I, Kurdish leaders briefly appeared poised to gain their own state as part of the Entente’s 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, but the plan was abandoned after defeats at the hands of Turkish nationalist forces. New borders were drawn across the Middle East, which left Kurdish populations divided among several countries.
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Since then, Kurdish political movements have largely focused on gaining autonomy, cultural rights, or independence from the governments that control Kurdish-majority regions.
Why Kurdish interests differ from Washington’s
The possibility that Kurdish groups could become involved in fighting Iran stems from their long-standing conflict with Tehran, a conflict that predates the Islamic Republic.
Several Kurdish militant organizations operate near Iran’s western border, particularly from bases in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. Some have fought sporadic insurgencies against Tehran for decades.
In Iran, Kurds make up less than 15% of the population, but have suffered the country’s economic collapse and have been systemically marginalized by Tehran.
The Iranian government has long restricted teaching the Kurdish language and cultural expression. Additionally, the majority of Kurds practice Sunni Islam, while Iran’s regime practices Shi’a Islam.
But their objectives differ from the Trump administration and the U.S. goal of ridding Iran of its nuclear and defense industries.
Many Kurds’ ultimate goal is a unified Kurdish state, one that would take chunks out of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This has turned them into enemies of each central government, and would make the creation of a Kurdish state in any of these countries an existential danger to the others.
In recent decades, Turkey has been the biggest opponent of the Kurdish cause, cautious over the insurgency of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which began in the 1980s. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people and served as the greatest security risk to the Turkish government.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey and the U.S., has conducted bombings and other attacks against Turkish targets, often allegedly using Kurdish areas in Syria and Iraq as staging grounds.
Turkey is one the U.S.’s most valuable allies in the Middle East and in NATO. Because of this, Turkey’s interests have taken precedence in U.S. strategy, with Washington weary of throwing too much support behind the Kurds. In cases of Turkish attacks on Kurdish areas in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. has passed the buck on defending the Kurds.
Kurdish and U.S. forces have worked together
The U.S. has had the most contact with Kurds in Iraq and Syria, with direct cooperation going back to the 1991 Gulf War.
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After a victory with Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. encouraged a Kurdish uprising in Iraq against Saddam Hussein. The uprising led to the Iraqi army slaughtering Kurdish forces after American aid never materialized. When U.S.-led coalition forces invaded Iraq in 2003, the Kurds emerged as a central partner for Washington in its quest to stabilize the unruly country.
The U.S. threw significant weight behind the Kurds in Syria during its fight against ISIS. Beginning in 2014, Kurdish-led forces in Syria became the main ground partner for U.S. operations against the terror group, helping to lead to the physical caliphate’s official dissolution in 2019. The Kurds guarded tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners and their families in northeast Syria for the next seven years.
U.S. and Kurdish interests also butt heads in Syria. Though the U.S. supported the Kurds for nearly a decade, relying on them in the fight against ISIS, the Trump administration prioritized the stability of Syria and ultimately backed Damascus in its conquest of the Kurdish autonomous area in the northeast after the fall of the Assad government.
Even before Assad’s fall, Washington signed off on a Turkish invasion into Kurdish-controlled areas, reinforcing a long-standing Kurdish perception that global powers often support them during conflicts but withdraw once strategic priorities change.
This prioritization of state integrity and security is likely to repeat itself in Iran if a new government takes power.
If Iranian Kurds try to create their own state, U.S. allies Turkey and Syria would immediately raise alarms and push for an end to the project over fears it could embolden their own Kurdish populations.
A friendly government in Iran would have similar objections. One potential candidate, exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi, has repeatedly warned of Kurdish separatism, recently saying that “Iran’s territorial integrity is the ultimate red line.”
Trump and Kurdish ideologies differ
Clashes with the Trump administration over ideology are also likely if the Kurds find success in Iran.
The Kurds adhere to a predominantly Marxist ideology, and Kurdish political parties are generally left-wing as many of the most influential are openly communist.
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After the Syrian Kurds established their own socialist statelet during the Syrian Civil War, their fighters welcomed and trained antifa militants from Europe and the U.S. The government forced its men to undergo feminist studies courses, with material that would be denounced as “woke” by the Trump administration at home.
Therefore, while the U.S. often relies on the Kurds for on-the-ground fighting, its interests take a back seat to those of its more powerful neighbors.