Over the years I have witnessed Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish fighters working alongside US forces in Iraq and Syria.
The Kurds were helpful in stopping Islamic State As (IS) fighters spread into much of northeastern Syria and Iraq.
Can they be called back to help the West? This is a widely debated issue.
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For their part, Iranian-Kurdish militias living in neighboring Iraq are literally scrambling to cross the border and join the popular uprising against the Iranian regime.
I know this because he told me.
In recent days, bases of Kurdish armed groups have been hit by rockets and drones, as have American bases. Iran As well.
For safety, he spends as much time as possible away from the base as he prepares for war, which is why I met a senior politician from the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran in a deserted building in a town nestled beneath the mountains leading into Iran.
Karim Parvizi commands one of the armed elements preparing to cross the border.
He told me he had been planning to take up arms against Iran for years, but believed now was the time to join the American-Israeli war.
“For years, decades, this regime has attacked us, killed our people and committed acts of genocide against us,” he said.
“Now that the regime is getting weaker and weaker, we see this as an opportunity to finally move towards achieving our independence.”
Karim Parvizi says the war provided the Kurdish people with an opportunity to win independence
Iran has threatened to bomb Kurdish towns and border cities if they are involved.
I asked Parviji if he was worried about those threats.
“The administration has no reason to attack us,” he replied. “For the last 47 years, they have targeted us regardless.”
He said: “Although this is described as a conflict between the United States and Iran, we have been repeatedly attacked whether we are involved or not.
“We live under constant threat. So no, they don’t need any justification to attack us, they have been doing it for decades.”
How much military cooperation between the Americans and the Kurds remains or has increased since the war against the Islamic State is a matter of some conjecture.
Officially at least, neither American nor Kurdish political leaders have indicated that this has changed one way or the other.
Strategic American bases and runways are located in Iraqi Kurdistan, so the US military presence here is constant.
‘This time is different’
Janyar, a member of the Peshmerga — as the Kurdish fighters are known — told me he and others want to follow the US’s encouragement. President Donald Trump For Iranian citizens to rise up against the government and its security forces.
I met him at a safe house for families of fighters actively preparing for war.
Janyar’s wife and child were killed in an Iranian missile attack
Zanyar’s wife and infant were killed in an Iranian missile attack here four years ago – remember Iran has been attacking the Kurds for years.
Crossing the border to fight the regime and its forces is now personal to him, and he, like many others, says now is the time.
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A biker proudly displays the flag of Kurdistan
“It is true that there were moments in the past when people tried to rise up, but the efforts were not coordinated, but this time is different,” Zanyar told me.
“You have people in Iran who are openly unhappy with the regime, you have opposition groups that are more united and determined to remove it, and most importantly, most of the international community now agrees that this regime must go.
“That coordination makes this moment different and gives us hope that this is a real opportunity for change.”
Will the invasion of Kurdish land start a nationwide uprising in Iran or instead mark the beginning of ethnic sectarian chaos?
As with this war, no one is sure about the funeral.
