Armed Kurdish separatist groups have attempted to cross into Iran from Iraq in recent days, fueling fears that growing unrest in the country has attracted dangerous foreign militants who could destabilize the wider region, reports show.
Iranian officials said the attempted breach came amid a sweeping crackdown on nationwide protests against the country’s regime, led by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Reuters reported this.
The Tasnim News Agency also reported that armed militia groups operating in Iraq have crossed the border into western and northwestern Iran. Middle East Monitor.
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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters gather north of Kirkuk, Iraq. (Reuters)
Reuters had reported that three sources, including a senior Iranian official, said that the Turkish intelligence service known as MIT had warned the IRGC that Kurdish fighters were trying to cross the Iran-Iraq border.
The Iranian official said clashes also broke out after the attempt to cross the border and accused the fighters of exploiting the unrest and creating further instability.
According to the Council for Foreign Relations, approximately 30 million Kurds live in the Middle East, mainly in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
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Kurdish separatists tried to cross into Iran from Iraq amid protests. (Mustafa Ozer/AFP via Getty Images)
Turkey has labeled Kurdish militant groups in northern Iraq as terrorist organizations and has carried out cross-border military operations against them. The Turkish army has also attacked PKK bases in Iraq.
In 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said it would disarm and end its decades-long struggle against Turkey.
Reuters said MIT and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office did not comment on the border crossing with Iran, although it warned that any interference in Iran would fuel regional crises.
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Iranians attend an anti-government protest on January 9 in Tehran, Iran. (UGC via AP)
Iranian authorities claimed the fighters were dispatched from Iraq and Turkey and said the Iranian regime has asked both governments to stop any transfer of fighters or weapons to Iran.
The number of people killed in the crackdown on protesters rose to at least 2,571 on Wednesday, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had been told the killings had stopped, and he believes there is no plan for large-scale executions.
When asked who told him, Trump said these were “very important sources on the other side.”
Iran closed its airspace to most flights on Wednesday, according to the flight tracking website Flight radar24, with the closure lasting just over two hours.
