The PDKI says six Kurdish fighters were killed in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp ambush near Piranshahr, while the Revolutionary Guards claim five Kurdish militants dead.

As days of public mourning ceremonies began, Iranians viewed the casket of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed four months ago at the start of the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

For the surviving Iranian regime, the funeral offers an opportunity to project power after withstanding months of war with Israel and the United States.

"What is happening today is massive surrender by the US to Iran; the Iranians are setting the tone, the US is releasing funds to Iran," he said.

The ceremonies arranged by the authorities eclipse even those held for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s Islamic Republic. Whereas Khomeini's funeral, in 1989, lasted two days and reportedly drew 10m mourners (though some estimates put it at 2.

"The danger Kurds pose is down the road," a former U.S. official told Newsweek.

After surviving months of strikes by the U.S. and Israel, the Iranian regime has emerged emboldened, contradicting Trump's claim of accomplishing "regime change."

Iranian negotiators have left Doha as the Islamic Republic pauses diplomacy ahead of a multi-day funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hunter Biden, even parodying the president's writing style, appeared to mock his failure to reach an agreement with Tehran while Americans continue to feel financial strain