Kurdish groups deny reports claiming Kurdish resistance groups have begun ground incursion into Iran to topple the regime

U.S. and Israeli news reports on Wednesday evening claimed that thousands of Kurdish fighters have poured into Iran in preparation for an anticipated ground campaign against Iranian regime forces, before Kurdish officials in Iran and Iraq denied such an operation was taking place.

The story was initially reported by Fox News, which quoted a “U.S. official” as saying thousands of Iraqi Kurds had launched a ground offensive in Iran. The Jerusalem Post also cited “Israeli and American officials” who confirmed that hundreds of Kurdish fighters had begun ground activities inside Iran. 

Around the same time, Israel's i24News cited an official from the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan (CPFIK) who said Kurdish militias based in Iraq had already launched a military offensive against Iranian regime forces.

That official claimed Kurdish fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) started taking combat positions inside Iranian territory days ago. “The ground military movements by Kurdish forces against Iran have already started since the midnight of March 2,” the official told i24News.

EXCLUSIVE: Kurdish forces in Iraq have launched a ground military offensive into Iran against the Islamic regime, an Iranian Kurdish official tells @i24NEWS_EN.

According to the official, thousands of Kurdish fighters began taking combat positions inside Iranian territory on… pic.twitter.com/g2EyzB3Ch3

— Yulia Pobegailova (@Y_Pobegailova) March 4, 2026

He also claimed that Iranian forces withdrew from the border city on March 3 and began reinforcing defensive lines in surrounding areas. 

However, both Iranian media and several Kurdish groups denied that there had been any large-scale movement of Kurdish forces into Iran. The regime-affiliated Tasnim News agency specifically denied any Kurdish incursion into western Iran. 

Urgent:

Claims that our forces have crossed the border into Rojhalat are false. We firmly reject these statements,no such movements have taken place. pic.twitter.com/M3noDBHlMs

— PAK_English (@PAKenglishh) March 4, 2026

An official from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), told the news outlet Rudaw that “None of our forces have entered the territory of Eastern Kurdistan [Rojhelat].”

“Such media reports are intended to create divisions within the coalition of East Kurdistan forces and are not true,” he stressed.

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said on Thursday that his region wouldn't “engage in any conflict or military escalation that jeopardizes the lives and security of our people.”

Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border.

This is patently false. https://t.co/MOFdlcvQ9N

— Aziz Ahmad (@azizkahmad) March 4, 2026

A member of the region's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo, Hemn Hawrami, also rejected reports that the Iraqi Kurds were “being a part of a plan to arm & support the Iranian Kurdish opposition to cross the borders into Iran.”

Aziz Ahmad, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, called the reports of ground operations by Iraqi Kurds "patently false" in a post to 𝕏. 

Barak Ravid, a reporter with Axios and Israel’s Channel 12, initially published a report claiming the offensive had already begun, before later posting an update, saying, “There are conflicting reports regarding what is currently happening in northwestern Iran near the border with Iraq. It is unclear whether a ground offensive by the Iranian-Kurdish militias has already begun or may be launched in the coming hours. A senior official in one of the Iranian-Kurdish factions denied to me that a ground offensive has started.” 

Likewise, Jerusalem Post's and i24's correspondent, Amichai Stein, first reported that a ground invasion had begun before acknowledging, “It should be said: there are many contradictions in the reports regarding the Kurds."

He added that he was certain that "at least hundreds of Iranian Kurds have crossed back into Iranian territory after fleeing, and preparations for an attack have begun. Has an active attack started? That is not clear at all.”

According to i24, the CPFIK official had claimed several Kurdish factions are prepared to cooperate with the U.S. and Israel in the fight against the Iranian regime. 

“Most of the armed Eastern Kurdistan [Western Iran] parties are ready to work in unity and openly with the State of Israel and the USA,” it quoted the official as saying. 

The U.S. is reportedly interested in having the Kurdish groups attack regime forces in western Iran in order to divert military and security resources away from the major cities, allowing opposition groups there to seize control despite limited offensive capabilities. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have carried out several strikes against Kurdish “separatist groups” in Iraq over the past few days. 

Local media reported multiple blasts in the province of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq on Tuesday, with claims that the attacks targeted the headquarters of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan in the area. 

A report by CNN claimed that the CIA was planning to supply weapons to Kurdish militias as part of an attempt to trigger a widespread uprising within Iran. However, experts express doubts that the entry of the Kurds would be sufficient by itself to trigger the collapse of the regime. 

Kurdish officials have acknowledged talks with Washington regarding a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, the Associated Press reported on Thursday morning. Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, which operates in northern Iraq, told the AP that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province. 

Some of the confusion appears to have come from a lack of distinction between the various Kurdish militias, many of which have strong disagreements with each other, as well as failing to recognize the difference between Iranian Kurdish resistance groups operating out of northern Iraq and local Iraqi Kurdish militias.

Many of the Iraqi Kurdish groups are fearful of actions that would disrupt the semi-autonomous zone they have established in northern Iraq. 

The Kurdish forces most likely do not possess the military capability to significantly confront regime forces in Iran, and would be dependent on coordinated air support from the U.S. and Israel. 

A ground incursion would require cooperation of the various Kurdish factions in Iraq and Iran, despite differences in interests and ideology. It would also likely require the assistance of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, which risks further attacks by Iranian proxies in Iraq. 

Several of the groups that the U.S. is reportedly in contact with are Iranian Kurdish groups, such as the Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK, and Komala, while others are militias with combat experience fighting against ISIS, such as the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK).  

Khalil Nadiri, the PAK official who spoke with i24, told the outlet that a future Kurdish state could serve as a strategic corridor linking the Persian Gulf to Israel. 

“Kurds are a powerful force to defeat the enemies of Israel,” Nadiri told i24. “The Kurds and the Jews are natural allies in the Middle East.” 

He also said that many Kurds view Israel’s establishment as proof that an independent state for the Kurds is achievable.