As many in our community have long feared, the war is beginning to move toward an even more dangerous phase: outside powers attempting to exploit ethnic fault lines inside Iran, collapse the country and accelerate an already deadly conflict beyond Iranian borders.
New reporting indicates that Israeli officials are pushing the Trump administration to mobilize Kurdish armed groups along Iran’s western border. U.S. and Israeli strikes have hit Iranian security infrastructure and border crossings in Kurdish regions to enable armed groups based in Iraq to move across the border.
This is a deeply dangerous development that will escalate civilian deaths and an already spiraling regional war. Any escalation involving Kurdish militant groups would likely draw in neighboring states with longstanding security concerns—particularly Turkey.
The broader Kurdish militant ecosystem has a long history of insurgent warfare that have often placed civilians at risk. These groups have been accused by governments and human rights monitors of tactics that prioritize military objectives “by any means necessary,” including attacks and operations that have endangered civilian populations and blurred the lines of conventional rules of war.
Attempting to ignite armed uprisings along ethnic lines in Iran risks unleashing territorial fragmentation, separatist violence, and potentially civil war, outcomes that would devastate civilians and destabilize the region for years to come.
Kurdish communities have already endured decades of manipulation and betrayal by outside powers. Turning them into another instrument in a destructive war with Iran will not bring liberation or stability. It risks dragging yet another community into a conflict that will leave ordinary people paying the price.
We strongly oppose these plans and urge the Administration to halt this senseless war. We also urge Congress to prohibit this war through War Powers Resolutions and oppose the future spending request coming forward to continue it.