Iran-backed Shiite militant group says it won't hand over a single weapon

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.

The Mossad armed Kurdish militias with weapons seized from Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a plan to bring down the Iranian regime, Ynet reported.

The CIA was also involved in the plan to arm the Kurds, but US President Donald Trump ultimately canceled it under pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the report said.

The Kurds received assistance in the form of money and vehicles and were armed with light weapons, anti-tank missiles, grenades and mortar shells, the report added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was in Ali Khamenei’s office when the former supreme leader was killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

"When I came out from under the rubble, I was only thinking about whether he had been targeted or not," Araghchi told Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen.

"After returning from the Geneva negotiations on Friday, I went to his office at 9 a.m. on Saturday to present my report," Araghchi said.

"My report was about the negotiations and the atmosphere that emerged on Friday, which made the possibility of war much greater," he said.

"The building where we were sitting was targeted, but the wing we were in remained intact," Araghchi said.

"I felt that, based on the normal course of work, the leader would definitely be in his office," he added.

"Although the possibility of war was high, the martyred leader's spirit prevented him from going to shelters," Araghchi said.

The office of Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi called on Iranians abroad to hold gatherings around June 16 to mark the birthday of Majidreza Rahnavard, a protester executed after Iran’s 2022 nationwide protests, and to use World Cup matches to display the lion-and-sun flag and images of protesters killed by the Islamic Republic.

The call comes as Iran’s team is due to be based in Tijuana, Mexico, for the World Cup, while playing its group-stage matches in Los Angeles and Seattle. Several outlets have reported that FIFA plans to ban Iran’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag at the tournament.

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The statement said the World Cup provided a rare opportunity to bring the voice of the Iranian people to the world.

"Now is the time to show up; the time for even greater unity under Iran’s national flag," Pahlavi's office said.

It called on Iranians in North America to gather in large numbers inside and outside stadiums and show what it described as "the will and determination of a united nation to reclaim its homeland."