Multiple IRGC members killed in escalating attacks in Iran's Kurdish regions amid unclear US-Iran talks

Clashes erupt in Iran's western Kurdish regions, leaving multiple IRGC members and police officers dead in Paveh and Baneh. The violence, involving Kurdish groups like PJAK and Xore Heva, escalates as fragile US-Iran diplomatic efforts continue in Qatar. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrive in Doha, but Iran rules out direct talks, demanding the US fulfill its memorandum commitments. Meanwhile, disputes intensify over Strait of Hormuz transit rights, and Israel vows to remain in southern Lebanon.

IRGC killings in Kurdistan

• ▪Gunmen targeted a police checkpoint in Baneh, Iran, killing two police officers and injuring three people, including a three-year-old girl
• ▪Two members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were shot dead at their home in the western border city of Paveh in Kermanshah province
• ▪The Eastern Kurdistan Defense Units clashed with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Gagosh area south of Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province
• ▪The armed group Xore Heva claimed responsibility for the Paveh attack, framing it as retaliation for Iran's crackdown on protests following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini

US-Iran Qatar mediation talks

• ▪US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Doha, Qatar, to meet with Qatari mediators regarding the US-Iran memorandum of understanding
• ▪Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei approved the US-Iran memorandum of understanding
• ▪Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, stated that no direct meetings with US representatives are scheduled in Doha, Qatar

Strait of Hormuz passage dispute

• ▪US President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating the tentative terms of the agreement and warned the US may use military force to complete the job
• ▪Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf stated that Iran will not enter further negotiations until the conditions of the signed US-Iran memorandum of understanding are met
• ▪Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf asserted that Iran has joint sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and that toll-free passage is limited to 60 days under the memorandum of understanding

Israeli troops in southern Lebanon

• ▪Israeli troops entered Lebanon on March 2, operating in a self-declared 10-kilometer-deep security zone along the border
• ▪Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah poses an armed threat

Iran espionage arrests

• ▪Israeli police arrested a 20-year-old US citizen living in the Jerusalem area on June 9, 2026, on suspicion of filming sensitive locations for Iranian intelligence
• ▪A family's vehicle was shot in Saravan, Sistan-Baluchistan province, killing a husband and wife in an attack Iranian state television blamed on Zionist-American mercenaries