Rubio says US stands with Kuwait after Iran’s ‘outrageous’ attack

Three Iranian Kurdish opposition parties told Iran International they had received no weapons from Israel or the United States, rejecting the reports as entirely false.

Abdullah Mohtadi, secretary-general of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, told Iran International that his party has not received any weapons from Israel or the United States.

Khalid Azizi, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, also told Iran International that his party has received no weapons from Israel or the United States, saying the reports are “completely untrue.”

Reza Kaabi, secretary-general of the Komala Party of Toilers of Kurdistan, also denied receiving any weapons from Israel or the United States and said other Iranian Kurdish parties had not received any weapons from the two countries either.

Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French artist, filmmaker and author of the autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis, has died aged 56, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Thursday.

"Her passing is that of a figure of French culture and of an artist enamored of freedom, whose work carried a universal message and had earned her immense international renown," the Elysee said in a statement.

A statement released by members of her family to AFP said she had died of "sadness" a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish actor, producer and screenwriter Mattias Ripa. No further information about the cause of her death was available.

Born in 1969, Satrapi spent her childhood in Tehran, was sent to Vienna as a teenager, returned to Iran to study fine arts and later settled in France.

She drew on that life of revolution, exile and return in Persepolis, a black-and-white memoir about her childhood during and after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The book became an international success and was later adapted into an animated film that won the jury prize at Cannes and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Satrapi also became a prominent voice on exile, women's freedom and authoritarianism, often using her platform to denounce repression in Iran.

Iran-backed Iraqi armed faction Kataib Hezbollah said it would not hand over its weapons.

"Not even a single bullet from a handgun will be handed over," the group said in a statement.

It said the groups that had moved toward handing over weapons "have not been in the ranks of the resistance for a long time" and had not been targeted "even once by the American enemy."

"As for the resistance factions, they remain firm, complete and preserving all their capabilities," the group said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s support for Hamas and other regional armed groups in a phone call with Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Palestinian group’s leadership council, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Araghchi outlined Tehran’s latest efforts to stop the war in the region and stressed that Iran would continue its policy of supporting what he called the legitimate resistance of regional nations, especially in Palestine and Lebanon, against Israel.

For his part, Hayya thanked Iran for its support and backing, praising Iran’s negotiating team for insisting on a simultaneous halt to fighting on all fronts in the region, the statement said.

Hayya briefed Araghchi on the latest situation in Gaza, accusing Israel of continuing its military operations and obstructing the implementation of a ceasefire agreement.

He also offered condolences over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader and several commanders and officials in the US and Israeli attacks, while congratulating Iran on what he called its victory in the “Ramadan war.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Thursday that no lasting calm would be achieved in the Middle East unless Israel withdrew from what it called occupied Lebanese territory and halted attacks on Lebanon.

In a statement issued following recent developments in Lebanon, the IRGC accused Israel of continuing its military operations despite international condemnation and said US efforts presented as peace initiatives had only led to further violence.

The force said Israel had failed to achieve its objectives through war and was now seeking to secure them through agreements backed by Washington. It added that the Lebanese people would not allow Israel to gain through diplomacy what it had failed to obtain on the battlefield.

The IRGC also said Iran's condition for accepting a regional ceasefire had been a halt to fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon. It called on Israel to immediately stop attacks on Lebanese civilians, withdraw from occupied Lebanese areas and recognize Lebanon's territorial integrity.

"The enemy must immediately stop its attacks on the people of Lebanon and quickly withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories to internationally recognized borders," the statement said.

The IRGC concluded by pledging continued support for Lebanon and said "no peace in the region will be established" without an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.