Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, while the Kurdish opposition group told Fox News Digital that six of its Peshmerga — a term commonly used for Kurdish fighters — were killed in what it described as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ambush in northwest Iran.

The clash marks another escalation in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west after days of reported attacks and clashes involving Iranian security forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kurdish armed factions. 

It also underscores the current position of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that recently were viewed by U.S. and Israeli officials as a possible pressure point against Tehran during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran but ultimately stayed out of the conflict amid mixed signals from Washington and pressure from both Iran and Turkey.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN’S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

Majeed Gly, president of the American Kurdish Committee, told Fox News Digital the latest clashes should not be read as a full-scale uprising, but also should not be dismissed as routine border violence.

“What I’m hearing is, this is not business as usual,” Gly said. “This is not like periodic clashes on the border. This is operations, and it seems to be deep inside.”

Gly said Kurdish frustration has grown sharply after months of Iranian attacks on Kurdish areas and opposition-linked sites, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He said the region has been hit by more than 850 attacks since February, leaving at least six civilians dead and dozens more wounded.

Hejar Berenji, the U.S. representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or PDKI, confirmed to Fox News Digital that six PDKI Peshmerga were killed in a clash with IRGC forces in the Piranshahr area of Iranian Kurdistan.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had killed five members of the banned PDKI in northwest Iran, Reuters reported Thursday, citing state media. The IRGC said the group was ambushed after entering Iranian territory in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan Province.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN’S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

Berenji identified the six Peshmerga as Karo Hormuziari, Fardin Changizi, Mohammad Khaki, Abdullah Mohammadpour, Twana Osmani and Mohammad Amin Bayezidi. He said the incident took place Wednesday night in the village of Qizqapan, near Piranshahr, and said the PDKI unit was on a “political and organizational mission” when it was “ambushed by a large and heavily equipped IRGC force.”

“This should be understood in the broader context of the Islamic Republic’s continued repression in Iranian Kurdistan and its repeated attacks on Iranian Kurdish civilian camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, even during ceasefire and negotiation periods,” Berenji said. “The regime has increased pressure on Kurdish communities because it understands that Iranian Kurds remain among the most organized and determined democratic forces inside Iran.”

The PDKI is one of Iran’s oldest Kurdish opposition movements. The group has been involved in decades of intermittent conflict with the Islamic Republic, while Tehran has long viewed Kurdish armed groups as separatist threats, while others describe it as a historic, centrist and nationalist Iranian Kurdish opposition group that Iran has targeted for years, including through assassinations of its leaders decades ago.

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the Middle East with communities spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. In Iran, many Kurds live in the country’s mountainous west and northwest, where Kurdish opposition groups have long accused Tehran of repression, executions, forced assimilation and military crackdowns. Iranian authorities view armed Kurdish factions as separatist or “terrorist threats.”

The latest clash followed several days of violence in western Iran. A similar incident near Piranshahr was reported by Iranian state media Tuesday, with the IRGC saying it had killed six members of what it called an “opposition and separatist group.” 

Two IRGC members were killed and two wounded in a shooting in Kermanshah Province Monday evening, an attack claimed by a newly formed Kurdish armed group seeking retaliation for the IRGC’s role in suppressing the 2022–2023 protest movement, according to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw.

Iran also appeared to be expanding pressure on Kurdish opposition groups beyond PJAK, the Kurdistan Free Life Party, after days of clashes between PJAK and the IRGC, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. 

Berenji said the latest clash was not a response to ongoing U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding negotiations, which remain unresolved as talks continue without a finalized agreement.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN’S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

“The Kurdish struggle for freedom, democracy and national rights predates the current negotiations and is not dependent on them,” Berenji said. “At the same time, any agreement that ignores the Kurdish question, the regime’s attacks on Kurdish civilians and the repression inside Iran will not bring real stability.”

Gly said Kurdish anger has been compounded by language in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding that critics interpret as Washington agreeing not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.

KHAMENEI BODY IN COLD STORAGE AS FEARED BASIJ MOBILIZES AHEAD OF HISTORIC IRAN FUNERAL

“This sentence has taken every Iranian opposition group the wrong way, especially the Kurds,” Gly said. 

He argued that even during negotiations with hostile powers, the United States should not abandon its public support for freedom movements, invoking former President Ronald Reagan’s approach to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Gly said he does not see clear evidence that Kurdish groups have gained major new military capabilities but said the perception of Iran’s strength has changed.

“What has changed is the perception of weakness of Iran,” Gly told Fox News Digital. “They are less afraid of the regime.”

The new violence carries broader significance for Washington because Iranian Kurdish opposition groups were recently discussed as a possible ground pressure point against Tehran. 

U.S. officials and Kurdish groups had discussed a potential military operation against Iranian security forces in western Iran, Reuters reported in March, while a separate report said Israel was backing Iranian Kurdish plans to seize Iranian border areas, though such an operation would likely require U.S. and Israeli support.

But those expectations quickly faltered. In April, Kurdish fighters ultimately stayed out of the war because of mixed signals from Washington and Israel and Iranian threats and strikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged President Donald Trump during the conflict to prevent Kurdish forces from launching a ground operation inside Iran, reflecting Ankara’s longstanding opposition to Kurdish armed movements gaining ground in the region, Reuters also reported. 

During the conflict, Trump told Reuters he would be “all for it” if the Kurds wanted to move against Iran and said their objective should be “to win,” but Kurdish commanders were frustrated by the lack of a clear U.S. or Israeli strategy.

Berenji said the PDKI does not seek chaos, but insisted Kurdish forces have the right to defend themselves.

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“We seek a democratic, pluralistic, secular and federal Iran where all nations and communities can live with dignity and rights,” he said. “But the Kurdish people also have the right to defend themselves against repression, intimidation, and attacks by the IRGC.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Iran’s mission to the United Nations for comment.

The Indus Water Treaty lays out how the river’s resources are to be shared between India and Pakistan.

Brokered in 1960, it has survived decades of conflict between the neighbours.

But recently, the agreement was put to the test after New Delhi suspended its participation.

That came after an attack India said was carried out by armed groups linked to Pakistan, which it denied.

This week, Islamabad has said India cannot suspend the agreement on its own.

It says its share of the Indus River is a red line and has threatened consequences.

So, how could they avoid a further escalation?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Siddharth Varadarajan – Founding editor of The Wire, an independent investigative news organisation

Michael Kugelman – Senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council

Zeeshan Salahuddin – Advisory director at Tabadlab, a think tank and consultancy on geopolitics

Variety gathered leading figures from the French film industry for its fourth dinner at Lapérouse in Paris, a post-Cannes and summer celebration bringing together Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux, Mediawan boss Pierre-Antoine Capton, MK2 Films co-CEO Nathanaël Karmitz and Pathé Films president Ardavan Safaee, as well as actors and filmmakers Anamaria Vartolomei, Rebecca Zlotowski, Guillaume Canet, Marina Foïs, Géraldine Nakache and Elsa Zylberstein, among others.

Hosted at the iconic Paris restaurant with the support of co-owners Émilie and Benjamin Patou, the evening toasted the global reach of French cinema after a Cannes edition that showcased a wide range of local and international talent. It also underscored Variety’s longstanding ties with the French movie business and its unique position as a U.S. publication with a strong international and Francophile footprint.

The event was organized by Variety’s international editor Elsa Keslassy, with support from entertainment lawyer Elsa Huisman of Cabinet 111 and awards strategist Sébastien Cauchon of Cinema Collectors. Variety’s deputy international editor Ellise Shafer traveled from London to attend.

The celebration unfolded in one of Lapérouse’s intimate salons, L’Astrolabe, where the table was dressed in a romantic, candlelit style that matched the post-Cannes mood. A pink patterned tablecloth, white candelabras, low votive candles and small bouquets of summer flowers ran down the center, while gilded mirrors, textured wallpaper, draped windows and a chandelier gave the room an old-world Parisian glow.

Guests dined on a classic Lapérouse menu featuring smoked Norwegian salmon with blinis and dill cream, duck pâté en croûte with foie gras and thyme and the restaurant’s signature truffled croque-royal with comté cheese. Main courses ranged from chicken suprême with morel cream and mashed potatoes to pearly cod with beurre blanc, followed by Lapérouse vanilla cake and a minute-cut seasonal fruit turban.

Frémaux, who just marked his 25th year at the helm of Cannes, was joined by Zlotowski, who originated the idea for “La Vénus électrique,” which played on opening night of this year’s festival; Canet, whose thriller “Karma,” starring Marion Cotillard, played out of competition; and actor-turned-director Nakache, who presented “Think Good” at Cannes Première. Also on hand were Marina Foïs, who was at the festival with Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved,” and Vartolomei, who stars in Pathé’s ambitious two-part historical epic “De Gaulle.” The first installment premiered in Cannes and has since enjoyed a strong rebound at the French box office. She was joined by Safaee, president of Pathé Films, which produced the “De Gaulle” diptych.

The gathering also spotlighted several major French production and distribution players. Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz and Fionnuala Jamison represented the MK2 group, which had 11 films at Cannes this year and won four prizes, including the Grand Prix for Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur,” the Caméra d’Or and FIPRESCI prize for Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s “Ben’Imana” in Un Certain Regard, and the Grand Prix Ami Paris at Critics’ Week for Marine Atlan’s “La Gradiva.”

Capton, who celebrated Mediawan’s 10th anniversary last month, has just finalized the company’s acquisition of North Road, whose current hit “Backrooms” has grossed more than $331 million worldwide. He was accompanied by Élisabeth d’Arvieu, CEO of Mediawan Pictures. The company was behind nine films at Cannes.

Jérôme Levy, co-founder of Vuelta, was also present after the group’s labels brought more than a dozen films to Cannes, including “La Vénus électrique,” Nakache’s “Think Good” and “A Woman’s Life.”
Top producer Juliette Schrameck, whose credits include Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” attended following a strong Cannes that included Lucas Dhont’s “Coward,” which won the acting prize for its two leads, Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, as well as Leïla Marrakchi’s “Les Fraises” in Un Certain Regard.

Rassam, producer of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” also attended after producing Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cannes prizewinner “Fatherland” through his banner Chapter 2. He is currently wrapping production on Ladj Ly’s upcoming “Dumas,” which he is making with Srab Films and Pathé Films. Kim Chapiron joined the dinner as he prepares his next film, a thriller set in the clandestine world of beauty. He came with producers Gary Farkas, Olivier Muller and Clément Lepoutre, whose banner Phantasm Group has joined luxury and lifestyle powerhouse The Independents and was at Cannes with James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” and Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil.”

Other guests included CNC president Gaëtan Bruel; Grégoire Chertok, a high-profile investment banker and cinephile who was awarded the Légion d’honneur; Cécile Felsenberg, co-founder of UBBA, who attended with several of the agency’s talents, including Canet and Foïs; and Melita Toscan du Plantier, president of the Marrakech Film Festival and producer of “Homebound,” which was shortlisted for the Oscars this year.

Also present were producers Rosa Attab, whose company January Films has upcoming projects including Chris Andrews’ “Cavendish,” with Sophie Thatcher and Joe Alwyn attached to star; Sophie Mas, who runs the banner MountainA with Natalie Portman and is in post-production on Lena Dunham’s “Good Sex”; Wassim Beji, who recently delivered Yann Gozlan’s box office hit “Guru”; actor Elsa Zylberstein, who is developing several international projects as a producer, including a Simone de Beauvoir film written by Christopher Hampton and set to be directed by Anne Fontaine; and photographer Marcel Hartmann.

The evening also welcomed international guests, notably Dylan Leiner, executive VP of acquisitions, production and business affairs at Sony Pictures Classics; and Ama Ampadu, senior production and development executive at the BFI Filmmaking Fund.

Owned by Patou and Antoine Arnault, Lapérouse first opened its doors in 1766 and became a favorite refuge for the Parisian intelligentsia, drawing philosophers, novelists, artists and, later, filmmakers to its salons, lushly decorated with red velvet, paintings, ornate moldings and crystal chandeliers. Tastefully revamped a few years ago by Dior Maison head Cordelia de Castellane, Lapérouse was mentioned by Marcel Proust in “In Search of Lost Time” and served as a backdrop in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”