The Trump administration is planning to stop or sharply reduce US military assistance to the Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces in Iraq, according to four sources familiar with internal discussions. The US Department of Defense has told leaders in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in recent meetings that it is not preparing to renew an expiring arrangement that supports the Peshmerga with security assistance, the sources said. The talks have not previously been reported. Representatives from the BBC, speaking to two officials who attended the meetings and two other people briefed on the matter, described discussions on condition of anonymity. Funding Deal set to Expire on 30 SeptemberA memorandum of understanding between the Pentagon and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is due to end on 30 September. That date coincides with the day the US and other countries plan to withdraw their remaining troops from Iraq. The troop withdrawals will formally end the international campaign against Islamic State (IS). The Peshmerga fought alongside coalition forces during the campaign to strip IS of territory in parts of Iraq and Syria. The last remaining US military base in Iraq is at Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, and is scheduled to close after coalition troops leave next month. The Pentagon and the KRG originally signed the memorandum in 2016, and renewed it in 2022. One source said a final decision on the scope of US security engagement with Kurdistan is still under review. Kurdish Officials Warn of Wider Security RisksKurdish officials fear the funding cut could create a security vacuum in the region and strengthen Iran’s influence, particularly at a time when Tehran has been escalating attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan. Since President Donald Trump began the war with Iran, Iran has launched hundreds of missiles and drones into Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the article’s sources and data cited from a Washington think tank. A separate research compilation by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies counted 158 missile or drone attacks inside Iraqi Kurdistan by late May, carried out by Iran and Iranian-backed militias. Analysts quoted in the reporting said ending Peshmerga support would undermine a long-standing partner and send a signal that the US could not reliably back allies in the region. Officials in both Iraq’s Kurdish region and Washington have also raised concerns about how any transition in US involvement would affect the ability of Kurdish forces to defend territory after the US drawdown. Pentagon Budget Proposal, Congress and an Internal ReviewThe Peshmerga, which numbers about 180,000 troops in Iraqi Kurdistan, received $61 million in fiscal year 2026 for weapons, military training and stipends through the Pentagon’s counter-IS programme. In a fiscal year 2027 budget request, the Pentagon proposed cutting security assistance for the Peshmerga entirely on the grounds that IS has been defeated and the funds should be reassigned. That spending plan has not yet been implemented because it is on hold amid a wider budget dispute in the US Congress. While the proposal alarmed officials in Iraqi Kurdistan, some had expected an extension through a deal due to expire in September. Despite the scale of Iran-related attacks on the KRG, multiple sources said defence department officials told Iraqi and Kurdish leaders in recent meetings that the US was not planning to extend the memorandum. The sources also said the US is looking at ways to retain some security support for both Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan after the troop withdrawal. State Department and KRG Declined to CommentThe KRG and the US State Department declined to comment on the discussions. The Pentagon referred questions to a statement summarising Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in July, which said Iraqi security forces, including the Peshmerga and other Kurdish-region forces, would lead the fight against terrorists in Iraq following coalition success against IS. The Kurdish security discussions were linked to broader negotiations between the US, Baghdad and the KRG over the timing and terms of the troop withdrawal. The departure date was set under a 2024 agreement between Washington and Baghdad to withdraw US troops remaining in Iraq that had been deployed after IS surged in 2014, following the 2011 withdrawal of American combat troops. The administration has said it is open to a bilateral security agreement with Iraq, and the sources said the two sides discussed a possible defence pact, though the shape of any agreement and the role of Iraqi Kurdistan remain unclear. Join the discussion? 29 August 2026
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