File image.
The United States Department of Defense has told leaders of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in recent meetings that the administration does not plan to renew an expiring agreement providing security assistance to the Peshmerga, the Kurdish security force, the BBC reported on August 28.
The British broadcaster cited two officials who participated in the talks and two other sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Kurdish officials fear the funding cut would create a power vacuum and embolden Iran, which has fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Iraqi Kurdistan since President Donald Trump began the war with the Islamic Republic, according to the report.
Ending the Peshmerga’s security assistance would undermine a longtime U.S. partner in Iraq, analysts told the BBC, and send a message that Washington cannot be trusted to back its allies in the region.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Pentagon and the Kurdistan Regional Government is set to expire September 30 — the same day the U.S. and other nations are withdrawing their last remaining troops from Iraq.
The troop withdrawal will formally end the international military campaign against ISIS, in which the Peshmerga fought alongside coalition troops to end the terrorist group’s control of parts of Iraq and Syria.
The sole remaining U.S. military base in the country, located in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, is set to close next month once coalition troops leave, according to the BBC.
The Peshmerga, which has approximately 180,000 troops in Iraqi Kurdistan, received $61 million in fiscal year 2026 for weapons, military training and stipends through the Pentagon’s counter-Islamic State program.
The Pentagon proposed cutting all of the group’s security aid in its fiscal year 2027 budget request, arguing that since ISIS was defeated, the money should now be reallocated — though the spending plan is on hold amid a broader budget battle in Congress.
Concerns have grown as Iran has stepped up attacks against Kurdistan. The Islamic Republic and its allies in Iraq had conducted 158 missile or drone attacks inside Iraqi Kurdistan by late May, according to research on the latest available data compiled by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
But despite the surge in attacks, defense department officials in recent talks with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders said the U.S. was not planning to extend the MOU; multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions told the BBC.
The Pentagon signed the initial memorandum of understanding granting military assistance to the Peshmerga in 2016 and renewed it in 2022.
A final decision on security engagement between the U.S. and Kurdistan is still under review; one source familiar with the Pentagon’s thinking told the BBC. The U.S. is considering ways to maintain some security support in both Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan after the troop withdrawal, according to the sources cited by the news broadcaster.
A State Department spokesperson told the BBC that the department was focused on implementing the troop withdrawal and “ensuring that Prime Minister Zaidi is positioned to disarm Iran-aligned terrorist militias and safeguard Iraqi sovereignty.”
The U.S. decision will first and foremost play in favor of Iran, which will have more freedom to target Kurdish opposition armed groups based in Kurdistan. Despite its good relations with Kurdistan leaders, Turkey will likely also view the move positively.
Internally, the end of American military support to the Peshmerga could also strengthen the federal government in Baghdad.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
the turds are the whores and traitors of the middle east. they always whore themselves out to serve the interests of foreign invaders, amerikunts, jooz, whoever. they stole syria’s oil and grain for years and sold it to the jooz to starve the syrian people. then when they have outlived their usefulness they are discarded like a used condom. now once again they have been left in the lurch and will have to pay the price for their thieving quisling antics. they never learn.
blanket racist counting shekels ?
the u s has a agreement with the head choppers in syria now they don’t need you losers anymore what’s it feel like to be a human used condem
it has taken years for the us to lose the iraq war. but it now formally announces the loss. next up syria, and al jolani the name changer? what a time we live in !