ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah on Monday warned Kurds in the region not to engage in a potential military offensive against Iran, amid intensified US military presence in the Gulf.

A joint coalition of five exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups was announced on Sunday. The alliance vowed to topple the Islamic republic and realize the Kurdish people’s “right to self-determination,” in their inaugural statement.

The development comes amid growing potential of a US military intervention in Iran. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to target Iran should the latter fail to agree to a deal regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, with two American warships deployed to the region.

“The Kurds of the region must act rationally and not become embroiled in a military adventure targeting Islamic Iran,” read a statement from Kataib Hezbollah spokesperson Abu Ali al-Askari.

Askari asserted that the US plans to target Iran from Syria, passing through the Kurdistan Region, in what he described as a “land-based” operation.

He urged the Iranian military to be “ready to curb any activity that would target Iran and its northwestern borders.”

Following the opposition groups’ announcement, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rejected the threats made against “a neighboring country,” asserting that it will not allow any party to use the Region to attack a neighboring state.

Many of the dissident groups are based in the Kurdish Region and have long been military targets for Iran. A suspected Iranian drone strike on officials from the Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan in Sulaimani last week killed at least one, according to the group.

The Kurdistan Region Security Agency (Asayish), however, denied the claim, insisting that the incident stemmed from a mere vehicle rollover.

In 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement under which Baghdad pledged to disarm and relocate Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from border areas, following repeated warnings from Tehran.