Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press. Kurdish party leaders have also discussed the Iran crisis with President Donald Trump, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. One official says Trump has asked them to open the border and back the groups militarily. Iraqi Kurdish leaders fear Iranian retaliation. Recent drone and missile strikes have already hit the region, damaging homes, and disrupting electricity. Iraq also reinforces the border and the Iraqi government has vowed to stop infiltrations.

Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey have begun laying down their weapons. About 30 fighters took part in a symbolic ceremony Friday in northern Iraq. The move was the first concrete step toward a promised disarmament as part of a peace process. The Kurdistan Workers' Party announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict to end four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm. Öcalan has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999.

A Kurdish militant group has announced plans to start disarming as part of a peace process with Turkey. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, says its fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons next week in a ceremony in Iraq's Kurdish region. The number of fighters who will take part has not yet been determined but might be between 20 and 30. This marks the first concrete step toward disarmament after decades of conflict. The PKK announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict after the group's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, called for an end to the fighting.