QAMISHLI, Syria — Syrian Kurds are warning Iranian Kurds not to join any U.S.-backed move against Tehran from bases in northern Iraq until Washington offers firm, written guarantees, after Syrian Kurdish residents and politicians told Reuters a Kurdish force sent into Iran could be discarded as soon as U.S. priorities change, March 9, 2026. They are making the case from bitter experience, arguing that their own partnership with the United States ended with losses that pushed them toward accommodation with Damascus rather than lasting protection.
The warning comes after Reuters reported that Iranian Kurdish militias along the Iraq-Iran frontier have discussed with the United States whether, and how, to attack Iranian security forces in western Iran. That report said the groups asked for U.S. military support, but that no final decision on any operation had been made.
The wider regional backdrop is also shifting fast. On March 6, Reuters reported that Israel had been in talks with Iranian Kurdish insurgent groups for about a year and was bombing parts of western Iran in support of plans to seize frontier towns, even as Iraqi Kurdish leaders publicly resisted being drawn into the conflict.
For Iranian Kurds, the uncertainty is amplified by President Donald Trump’s mixed messaging. Reuters said Trump described a Kurdish cross-border move as “wonderful” on Thursday, then said Saturday that he did not want Kurdish fighters entering Iran. That swing is exactly what Syrian Kurds say makes written guarantees essential.
Why Iranian Kurds are demanding guarantees
That caution is echoed on the Iranian Kurdish side. In an interview with The Associated Press, officials from the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, said they were not planning an imminent cross-border attack from northern Iraq but would join a U.S. ground invasion if one materialized. One official said the Kurds must not become “the spearhead of the attack,” a formulation that closely matches Syrian Kurdish fears of being used first and protected later.
Syrian Kurdish voices are framing the issue in nearly the same terms. Residents told Reuters that Iranian Kurds should insist on “firm, signed guarantees” before any move inside Iran, while Syrian Kurdish politician Ahmed Barakat urged “extreme caution.” The warning is straightforward: if Washington cuts a new deal or simply shifts course again, Kurdish regions would still be left to absorb the blowback.
How Syrian Kurds became the cautionary example
The appeal from Qamishli is inseparable from Syria’s own reversal. In January, Reuters reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to a phased integration deal with Damascus after government forces under President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured swaths of northern and eastern Syria, pushing Kurdish forces back into a smaller northeastern enclave. For many Syrian Kurds, that episode reinforced the idea that battlefield usefulness to Washington does not automatically translate into lasting political cover.
That is why the warning now carries unusual force. It is not coming from distant analysts or rival political camps, but from communities that spent years fighting alongside the United States against the Islamic State group and now describe the aftermath as a lesson in how quickly leverage can evaporate.
Older warning signs for Iranian Kurds
The mistrust also has a clear paper trail. In October 2019, Reuters reported that U.S. lawmakers accused Trump of betraying Kurdish allies as Turkey’s assault in northern Syria forced Kurdish forces to withdraw from territory they had held with U.S. backing. In September 2022, Reuters reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired missiles and drones at Iranian Kurdish dissident sites in Iraqi Kurdistan. A year later, Reuters reported that Iraq had begun relocating Iranian Kurdish fighters away from the Iranian border under a security arrangement with Tehran.
Taken together, those episodes explain why Iranian Kurdish leaders are now looking for more than warm words or quiet consultations. They want to know whether U.S. support would survive a ceasefire, a diplomatic bargain or another sudden policy turn. Syrian Kurds, still processing their own retrenchment, are warning that without those guarantees, any move toward Tehran could leave Iranian Kurds alone with the consequences.
