Iran’s War, Kurdistan’s Opportunity: Kurds Seek Political Space

Iran’s war with Israel and the US could provide Kurdish groups with the opportunity to increase their political influence and control inside the Kurdish provinces in western Iran.

The groups are part of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, an alliance of major Iranian Kurdish parties headquartered in Iraq. While all eyes are on the continuing US and Israeli strikes against Iran, another potential battlefront is brewing on the border with Iraq. Kurdish militia fighters are preparing for war with the hope of liberating their fellow Kurds in western Iran.

Since the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that began on February 28, there have been more than three hundred drone and missile strikes in Erbil and elsewhere in Iraqi Kurdistan on locations that are associated with the United States and other western countries. Other targets have been the bases of Iranian Kurdish dissident groups that are based here. The Kurds have been a key U.S. ally in the decades since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region hosts the last U.S. military base in the country.

Recent drone attacks in the region have forced some oil refineries here to cease operation, while others continue. More broadly, Iraq, a member of OPEC, has had to sharply reduce oil production as its main export route, through the Strait of Hormuz, has been blocked due to the war between Iran and the U.S., Israel and their regional allies. On March 12, two oil tankers were attacked in Iraqi waters offshore from its main port of Basrah, allegedly by Iranian forces. Meanwhile, Baghdad and the government of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan are negotiating to try to increase exports through the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline, which has been a source of political and legal tension. (Photo by Sedat Suna/Getty Images)