QAMISHLI, Syria — Kurdish residents in northeast Syria have urged their counterparts in Iran to avoid aligning with the U.S. in efforts to target the Iranian government, citing their own experiences as a warning that such an alliance could lead to betrayal.

Warnings From Syrian Kurds

Residents of Qamishli, a major Kurdish town in northeastern Syria, expressed concerns that Iranian Kurdish militias could face a similar fate if they choose to collaborate with the U.S. against Iran, as the U.S. and Israel conduct air strikes against Iranian targets.

‘I hope that the Kurds of Iran will not ally themselves with America, because they will abandon them,’ said Saad Ali, a 45-year-old resident of Qamishli. ‘Tomorrow, if an agreement is made between them (the U.S.) and the Iranians, they will eliminate you. Do not make our mistakes,’ he told Reuters.

Historical Context of Kurdish-U.S. Relations

Syrian Kurds have had a complex relationship with the U.S. over the past decade. They aligned with the U.S. to fight the Islamic State group, capturing territory that led to the creation of a semi-autonomous Kurdish zone. However, in January, Syria’s new army under President Ahmed al-Sharaa launched a sweeping offensive that captured most of the Kurdish-held areas.

Syria’s Kurds had called on the U.S. to intervene on their behalf, only to be disappointed when Washington instead urged them to merge with Sharaa’s forces. This experience has left a bitter taste among Syrian Kurds and has become a key point in their current warnings to their Iranian counterparts.

‘In my opinion, the Kurds in Iran should maintain a firm stance: they will not engage in any wars within Iranian territory without firm, signed guarantees from the United States regarding the future of these Kurdish regions in Iran,’ said Amjad Kardo, a 26-year-old Syrian Kurd in Qamishli.

Kardo added that Syrian Kurds had a ‘negative experience’ with the U.S., and their abandonment of Kurdish resistance movements was a key factor in their current caution.

U.S. Stance and Kurdish Concerns

An Iranian Kurdish source said Kurdish leaders had concerns about being ‘betrayed’ like the Kurdish groups in northern Syria. The source said Iranian Kurdish leaders had requested guarantees from the U.S., but did not specify what these guarantees were.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday it would be ‘wonderful’ if Kurdish forces crossed the border from northern Iraq into Iran, but declined to answer a question on whether the U.S. would offer them air support if they did so. On Saturday, he appeared to switch positions, telling reporters he does not want Kurdish fighters going into Iran.

Ahmed Barakat, head of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party in Syria, told Reuters that Iranian Kurdish forces should ‘exercise extreme caution.’ He said the decision was ultimately up to them, but believed that ‘accepting the invitation of the United States and being considered the lead in confronting or weakening the Iranian regime is not, at present, in the best interest of the Kurds of Iran.’

Israel has also been holding its own talks with Iranian Kurdish insurgent groups based in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan for around a year, according to Reuters.

The Kurds are an ethnic group that was left stateless a century ago when the borders of the modern Middle East emerged from the collapsing Ottoman Empire. Mostly Sunni Muslims, they speak a language related to Farsi and are concentrated in a mountainous region straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

In Iraq, they inhabit three northern provinces led by their own regional government. However, in other countries — Iran, Turkey, and now Syria — their dreams of an autonomous region or state have remained out of reach.