US plans to cut off military aid to key Middle East ally, BBC told

ByDaniel Bush Washington correspondent.

Key points

• The Pentagon signed the initial memorandum of understanding giving military assistance to the Peshmerga in 2016 and renewed it in 2022.
• "The Peshmerga have been the frontline in the US and international war with ISIS, " remarked Campbell, an expert at the Middle East Institute.
• "This is going to be a big win for Iran, China, and Russia if the Kurds are left so exposed."
• A close Trump ally, Barrack is the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Iraq and Syria.
• In his second term, Trump has pledged to reduce America's foreign entanglements in regions like the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is planning to cut off military aid to a key Middle East ally that supported the US defeat the Islamic State group (IS) and is now facing punishing attacks from Iran, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

For context, the US Department of Defense has informed leaders of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in recent meetings that the administration is not planning to renew an expiring agreement that provides security assistance to the Peshmerga, the Kurdish security force.

Notably, the BBC spoke to two authorities who participated in the negotiations and two other sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the discussions, details of which have not been previously noted.

Kurdish authorities fear the funding cut would create a power vacuum and embolden Iran. It has fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Iraqi Kurdistan since US President Donald Trump kicked off the war with Tehran.

Ending the Peshmerga's security assistance would undermine a longtime partner in Iraq, analysts remarked, and send the message that the US cannot be trusted to back its allies in the region.

"The US would be cutting off the Kurds, who shed so much blood to help the Americans achieve their goals in Iraq and the wider Middle East, " Yerevan Saeed, the director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace at American University, remarked.

In his second term, Trump has pledged to reduce America's foreign entanglements in regions like the Middle East. He additionally rolled out the war with Iran. It reached the six-month mark on Friday with no end in sight.

In practice, the memorandum of understanding between the Pentagon and the Kurdish Regional Administration (KRG) is due to expire on 30 September, the same day the US and other nations are withdrawing their last remaining troops from Iraq.

Meanwhile, the troop withdrawal will formally end the international military campaign against IS, in which the Peshmerga fought alongside coalition troops to end the jihadist group's control of parts of Iraq and Syria. The sole remaining US military base in the country, located in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil, is due to close next month once coalition troops leave.

Notably, the Peshmerga, which has approximately 180, 000 troops in Iraqi Kurdistan, received $61m (£45m) in the fiscal year 2026 for weapons, military training and stipends through the Pentagon's counter-IS programme.

For context, the Pentagon proposed cutting all the group's security aid in its fiscal year 2027 budget request – arguing that since IS was defeated the funds should now be reallocated – but the spending plan is on hold against the backdrop of a broader budget battle in Congress.

Meanwhile, the request raised alarm bells in Iraqi Kurdistan, but authorities had held out hope that the US would renew the funding through an extension of the current agreement.

In practice, the fears have only grown as Iran has stepped up attacks against the KRG. Iran and Iranian-backed militias had conducted 158 missile or drone attacks inside Iraqi Kurdistan by late May, according to reasearch on the latest available data compiled by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington DC think tank.

But despite the surge in attacks, in recent discussions with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders, defence department office-holders noted the US was not planning to extend the memorandum of understanding, multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions remarked. The Pentagon signed the initial memorandum of understanding giving military assistance to the Peshmerga in 2016 and renewed it in 2022.

Notably, a final decision on security engagement between the US and Kurdistan is still being reviewed, according to one source familiar with the Pentagon's thinking. The US is considering ways to maintain some security backing in both Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan after the troop withdrawal, the sources stated. Six months into the Iran war, what has Trump accomplished? Both the KRG and US State Department declined to comment.

In response to questions regarding security assistance for the Peshmerga, a Pentagon spokesperson referred to a statement by the department summarising Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's gathering with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in July.

"The United States, Iraq and Coalition partners have achieved tremendous success in defeating ISIS and now the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Peshmerga and other Iraqi Kurdistan Region security forces, will lead the fight against terrorists in Iraq, " the statement remarked.

Notably, the expiration of the security aid for the Peshmerga would come less than one year after the US opened its largest consulate in the world, in Irbil.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $800m complex last December, Michael Rigas, a senior US State Department official, remarked the consulate was "a testament to the value of the relationship between the United States and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region".

In practice, the recent discussions around Kurdish security were part of larger conversations between the US, the Iraqi administration and KRG over the upcoming troop withdrawal. That date was set under a 2024 agreement between Washington and Baghdad to withdraw the US troops that remain in Iraq from the campaign against IS. American combat troops left Iraq in 2011 but returned after the power vacuum led to the rise of IS in 2014.

In practice, the US could avoid repeating the same mistake by continuing to back the Peshmerga, remarked James Jeffrey. This person spearheaded the global coalition against IS in Trump's first term.

"It's money well spent, as we found out when the Islamic State rolled into northern Iraq, " remarked Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey under the Obama administration.

For context, the Trump administration has not remarked how numerous US troops brought in to fight IS more than a decade ago remain in Iraq. Experts believe it's under 1, 000, down from 170, 000 at the height of the Iraq War.

For context, the recent meetings on Iraqi security included the White House, Defense and State Departments, with Tom Barrack acting as a principal US voice on Iraq, four sources remarked. A close Trump ally, Barrack is the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, the administration has remarked publicly it's open to a bilateral security agreement with Iraq. The countries discussed a feasible defence pact in the recent meetings, but it's still unclear how the agreement might be structured or what Iraqi Kurdistan's role might be.

Al-Zaidi touted the troop withdrawal during his visit to Washington last month. As well as Hegseth and members of Congress, al-Zaidi, who was elected in May, met Trump at the White House.

"October 1 will mark a new day in the trajectory of the Iraqi state, as Iraq will be free of any foreign military presence, " al-Zaidi's office remarked in an official note at the time.

In practice, the withdrawal will reduce the exposure of US troops in the Middle East who have been targeted by Iran during the war, analysts remarked. Tehran has attacked US bases throughout the region, including the base in Irbil.

But it will leave the Peshmerga security force and the rest of the region it helps protect even more vulnerable than before, remarked Jason Campbell, a former US defence official.

"The Peshmerga have been the frontline in the US and international war with ISIS, " remarked Campbell, an expert at the Middle East Institute. "If the US moves forward with this, it'll make the Kurds perhaps the most vulnerable potential targets of Iran."

For now, US plans to cut off military aid to key Middle East ally, remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.