The Kurds enter the spotlight amid the ongoing Iran war as patterns of strikes[i] in the country’s Kurdish-majority provinces appear aimed at opening a new front along the Iran-Iraq border. While Iranian Kurdish forces are among the most organized and reliable opposition groups, arming them without building a broad, cross-ethnic Iranian opposition coalition might risk fuelling sectarian tensions and widening the war, potentially drawing other countries in the region into the conflict. Any support for Kurdish groups should be embedded in a broader effort to form a national coalition uniting fragmented opposition groups around the shared vision of a democratic and pluralistic Iran. Iranian Kurdish parties have already formed a political alliance[iii] to coordinate their activities and advance Kurdish political aspirations. In the current landscape, the position of Iranian Kurdish groups is deeply precarious.

Source: CNN March 23, 2026 19:49 UTC