The United States has reportedly deployed Kurdish fighters as ground forces in Iran, raising questions about whether President Donald Trump's "mercenary strategy" will prove effective. While the approach is seen as a tactical move to minimize American casualties while fueling separatism within Iran, the strategy could collapse if the critical challenge of securing supply lines ultimately fails.
On Sunday, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing U.S. and Israeli government officials, that hundreds of Kurdish fighters have begun ground operations in Iranian border areas adjacent to Iraq. Fox News also reported that thousands of Kurdish fighters have infiltrated Iran to conduct operations.
Trump, who partnered with Kurdish forces during his first administration to combat the Islamic State terrorist organization, has once again played the Kurdish card—this time with the goal of toppling the Iranian regime.
One reason the U.S. is not deploying its own ground troops is Iran's mountainous terrain. The Zagros Mountains, reaching elevations above 4,400 meters and known as the "graveyard of armored forces," block Iran's western flank. More critically, Iran's western neighbor is Iraq, a U.S. adversary highly unlikely to permit American troop entry or supply route access. To Iran's east lies Afghanistan, where the U.S. effectively suffered defeat in 2020. Turkey, a NATO member located northwest of Iran, offers a potential entry point, but Ankara has already expressed opposition to U.S. attacks on Iran.
This is why Washington appears to be placing significant expectations on Kurdish forces. While the Zagros terrain is unfamiliar to American troops, Kurdish fighters know it intimately, having used the mountains as refuge during past crises. The Wall Street Journal analyzed that instead of deploying U.S. forces at the cost of massive casualties, Washington aims to harness decades of Kurdish resentment against persecution. The strategy also seeks to stoke separatism among other Iranian minorities—including Azeris, Lurs, and Baluchis—to foment internal chaos.
Though Kurdish fighters are outnumbered compared to Iranian forces, their guerrilla-style attacks would require Iran to deploy several times more troops for defense. Iran's territory spans approximately 1.64 million square kilometers—seven times the size of the Korean Peninsula—ranking 17th globally by area. The U.S. strategy appears designed to exploit gaps created by stretching Iranian forces thin.
However, this approach cannot be sustained long-term. Experts estimate that occupying Iran would require at minimum hundreds of thousands of U.S. ground troops. Equipment, ammunition, fuel, food, and medical supplies would need to be several times that volume. The Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that "deploying U.S. troops does not appear to be an option for the Trump administration."
If the war turns unfavorable over an extended conflict, promised rear support could be cut off, leaving Kurdish forces exploited and abandoned. Qatar's Al Jazeera warned: "The U.S. could pull out and leave chaos behind."