Intense airstrikes have hit dozens of military positions along northern parts of Iran's border with Iraq, as the US and Israel prepare a new front in their conflict. A US official confirmed that Washington is ready to provide air support if Kurdish fighters cross the border from northern Iraq.
A spokesperson for Israel's military said the air force had been "heavily operating in western Iran to degrade Iranian capabilities there and to open up a way to Tehran". Iran has warned "separatist groups" against joining the conflict, with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stating: "Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action."
Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), said Kurdish opposition groups had been contacted by US officials regarding a potential operation, and some forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province. Baloch militant groups have also crossed from Pakistan into Iran, according to local officials.
Experts warned that backing armed groups from Iran's ethnic communities could "open up a hornet's nest", aggravating divisions and increasing the risk of a chaotic civil war. Donald Trump reportedly called two leaders of Iranian Kurdish factions and is open to supporting groups willing to take up arms against the regime.
Five rival Iranian Kurdish organisations recently formed a new coalition dedicated to overthrowing the regime. A spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said it was the duty of "free, democratic societies around the world to help [Iranian Kurds] win freedom". The KDPI leader called on Iranian military personnel to abandon their posts.
Alia Brahimi, a Middle East expert at the Atlantic Council, cautioned against using local forces, warning that if ground fighting is outsourced to ethnic separatist groups, the US would have less ability to shape developments, and the Iranian public might rally around the regime.
