US official urges continued Peshmerga funding amid 2027 budget cuts proposal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US officials on Tuesday discussed sustaining military support for the Kurdish Peshmerga amid proposed cuts to counter-Islamic State (ISIS) funding and regional security shifts following Washington’s latest military campaign against Iran.

Assistant Secretary of War for International Security Affairs Dan Zimmerman supported congressional funding to maintain the security partnership, telling a congressional committee that the US would be “hard-pressed to find a more willing and capable group” than the Kurds in Iraq.

The remarks come as the fiscal year 2027 budget proposal seeks to centralize the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund in Baghdad. The request allocates $118.9 million to federal Iraqi defense and counter-terrorism forces while outlining zero direct funding for the Kurdistan Region.

Direct US financial assistance to the Peshmerga was previously eliminated in the fiscal year 2026 budget. The 2027 proposal would further remove military training support for Kurdish forces, a program that received approximately $61 million in the prior funding cycle.

The US and Israel then launched a large-scale aerial campaign against Iran in late February, striking thousands of targets across the country during six weeks of hostilities.

In response, Iran carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.

The Iranian response has also included strikes by factions aligned with the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, including by shadowy armed groups in Iraq that have claimed numerous attacks against alleged US targets in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. 

Zimmerman addressed the current security environment in the Middle East and in Iraq where he said Iran-backed armed groups are operating with independent capability and freedom following the six-week war.