A senior Iraqi Kurdistan official told AFP the United States was not arming Iranian Kurdish opposition groups exiled in the autonomous region, reiterating his government opposed the groups’ involvement in the Middle East war.
Since the war began on February 28 with Israeli-US strikes on Iran, Iraq has been drawn into a conflict it had sought to avoid at all costs.
US President Donald Trump initially appeared to support an offensive by Kurdish armed groups against Iran, before backtracking.
“We have not seen any attempts by the United States, any branch of the United States, to arm Iranian opposition groups in Kurdistan,” deputy prime minister of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Qubad Talabani, said in an interview on Thursday.
Citing individual discussions regional authorities held with the US, Iran, or local groups, he emphasised that “right now there is no plan to use these groups inside Iran”.
He said Iraqi Kurdistan had “made it very clear to all of the opposition groups that it is very unwise for them to be the tip of the spear”.
“We would not allow that to happen from here, and we have made it very clear to all sides involved,” he said from his office in Sulaimaniyah, the region’s second city.
In the past, Tehran has accused these groups of crossing the border to attack its forces or alleged they were inciting an uprising in its Kurdish regions.
A partner of Washington and the West, Iraqi Kurdistan has long tried to strike a careful balance with its Iranian neighbour.
But stability — helped by a 2023 security agreement between the region, the federal government and Iran — has been fractured by recent strikes against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.
At the beginning of the conflict, Talabani said Tehran had asked Iraqi Kurdistan to do “whatever we can to protect that border”.
“We feel it is our duty to protect that border,” he said, out of respect for their bilateral relations.
– ‘Persistent’ strikes –
Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan has endured repeated drone attacks since the outbreak of the war, aimed at the US consulate in regional capital Erbil or American military advisors attached to an international anti-jihadist coalition.
Talabani condemned these “persistent” strikes, blaming what he called “outlier militias” operating from federal Iraq. He said they had raised the issue with Baghdad.
“Some of these groups, unfortunately, have members who are on the payroll of the federal government,” he said.
Ostensibly part of a coalition of former paramilitaries integrated into the formal army, some of these pro-Iranian groups consistently act independently.
Baghdad has promised “to put a stop” to the attacks, he said.
But the government is relatively powerless against these groups — which are claiming responsibility for attacks against the US military presence in Iraq and across the region.
They are regularly targeted in Iraq by strikes they blame on Washington or Israel. In turn, the groups have targeted vital oil facilities, many of which have suspended operations.
Iraqi oil production and exports, accounting for roughly 90 percent of its revenue, have collapsed thanks to the attacks and the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Talabani said they “obviously” support the resumption of oil production.
“But at the same time, Kurdistan has no air defences, we have no ability to defend these fields from attacks carried out by various different militia groups,” he said.
“We have to also be realistic that, heaven forbid, if one of these fields were to be struck while operating, the impact could be calamitous.”
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