Kurdish groups claim they’re preparing cross-border op in Iran with US support

Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials tell The Associated Press.

The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.

Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, based in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, says some of their forces have moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and are on standby.

He says Kurdish opposition group leaders have been contacted by US officials regarding a potential operation, without giving more details.

The White House has denied that the US has been arming Kurdish fighters in Iraq, asserting that while President Donald Trump has been in touch with Kurdish leaders in Iraq, the subject was the American military base in the country.