Weather 
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Kurdish opposition groups say they are prepared to challenge Tehran but are holding back for now as the war between the United States, Israel and the Islamic Republic continues to unfold.
Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that Kurdish forces are closely watching developments but have no plans to launch a ground offensive at this stage.
Reports in recent days have suggested that President Donald Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, as Washington explores possible Kurdish involvement in pressure on Iran.
Azizi declined to confirm or deny whether such a conversation took place.
74 RETIRED US GENERALS, ADMIRALS BACK IRAN STRIKES, WARN TEHRAN SEEKS TO ‘SPILL AMERICAN BLOOD’
Azizi himself has firsthand experience with Iran’s military retaliation.
In 2018, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at the KDPI headquarters in Koy Sanjaq in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region during a leadership meeting, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens.
“We have been targeted by the Islamic Republic,” Azizi said. “The first Iranian missile was sent to my headquarters and I was personally injured in that attack,” Azizi said.
Despite the risks, Azizi said Kurdish resistance remains strong after decades of confrontation with Iran.
“The Iranian Kurdish resistance movement is actually very strong because we have been on the ground since the Iranian revolution,” he said.
Azizi spoke from Washington, D.C., where he said Kurdish representatives were meeting with policymakers and institutions to discuss the situation in Iran and the role Kurdish groups could play if the conflict evolves.
But for now, Kurdish groups say they are waiting to see how the broader war develops.
“We are ready and our party is well organized,” Azizi said. “But right now we do not have any intention to enter Iranian Kurdistan because the ground forces in this war have not been a topic.”
“It’s very easy to start a war,” he added. “But it will be more complicated how to end this war.”
KEANE WARNS IRAN STRIKE BECOMING ‘REGIONAL WAR,’ SAYS THREE GULF STATES PREPARING FOR COMBAT
The KDPI is one of the oldest Kurdish opposition movements fighting Iran’s Islamic Republic. The group is a member of the Socialist International and operates primarily from bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and has been in armed and political opposition to Tehran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Azizi said Kurdish political movements have recently taken a significant step by forming a joint alliance aimed at coordinating their political strategy.
“We have managed to create a unity among the Kurdish political parties,” he said. “This has been welcomed by the Iranian Kurdish people and by different Iranian political parties.”
The alliance, known as the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, brings together several historically divided Kurdish factions that oppose the Islamic Republic.
Azizi said the future of Iran will ultimately depend on whether Iranians themselves rise up against the regime.
US SURGES FORCES TO MIDDLE EAST AS PENTAGON WARNS IRAN FIGHT ‘WILL TAKE SOME TIME’
“If you look at the goal of the United States and Israel in this war, they have been targeting the Iranian military, security and political institutions. In this aspect Iran has been weakened,” he said.
“But the regime still remains in power because people are not on the streets and there is no alternative right now to replace this regime.”
Azizi urged Western governments to focus not only on the military campaign but also on helping Iranian opposition movements coordinate politically.
Iran, he said, is a multi-ethnic country whose future stability will depend on building a democratic system that includes all of its communities.
“The path and the roadmap for rebuilding Iran must be based on the participation of all ethnic groups,” Azizi said. “Iran is a multi-ethnic society.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
For now, he said, Kurdish fighters remain in a holding pattern.
“We have the ability and we have the capacity,” Azizi said. “But it is not easy right now for us to make any decision regarding entering Iranian Kurdistan.”
