Kurds Ready to Fight the Iranian Regime — But They Have One Condition for the U.S.

As the United States and Israel have carried out airstrikes on targets inside Iran for six consecutive days, questions are growing over whether ground forces could soon enter the conflict.

The answer may be yes — but not necessarily American troops.

Iranian Kurdish opposition groups operating in exile in northern Iraq say they have long-standing plans to cross the border and fight the Iranian regime. However, they firmly deny claims that their fighters have already entered Iran.

“We have been preparing for 47 years, since the creation of the Islamic Republic,” said Hana Yazdanpana from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), which claims to command the largest armed Kurdish force opposing Tehran.

Despite their readiness, Yazdanpana stressed that no fighters have moved yet.

“No peshmerga have been deployed,” she said. The word peshmerga in Kurdish translates to “those who face death.”

According to Yazdanpana, six Kurdish opposition groups have recently formed a coalition aimed at coordinating both political and military strategies against the Iranian regime.

“No one is acting alone,” she said, emphasizing that the alliance is working together to determine the right moment for action.

However, she does not expect Kurdish fighters to begin operations immediately.

“The United States must prepare the ground first,” she explained. “We cannot move if the airspace above us is not secure. The regime’s weapons depots must also be destroyed. Otherwise it would be suicide.”

She added that Kurdish fighters are heavily outmatched in terms of equipment.

“The regime is extremely brutal,” Yazdanpana said. “The most advanced weapon we have is a Kalashnikov.”

For that reason, Kurdish leaders are calling on Washington to establish a no-fly zone that would protect their forces if they launch a ground offensive into Iran.

Kurds, the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, are spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and have a long history marked by persecution, political marginalization, and broken alliances.