The United States said Thursday that one of its citizens was killed in Iranian strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan as it separately announced fresh enforcement of sanctions on Tehran's oil sales.

Iran's clerical state on Thursday carried out cross-border strikes, with 13 reported dead, amid unrest at home sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman by the notorious morality police.

"We can confirm that a US citizen was killed as a result of a rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region" on Thursday, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

The presence of three female referees at the World Cup in Qatar will send "a strong sign", said one of those women selected on Thursday.

"It's a strong sign from FIFA and the authorities to have women referees in that country. I'm not a feminist spokesperson, but if this can make things happen..." said trailblazing French referee Stephanie Frappart.

The 38-year-old is one of 36 referees selected for the November 20-December 18 tournament being staged in the conservative Gulf state.

Among Iranian women protesting in recent nights, many are proud of not only playing what they say is a key role -- but that men are following in their footsteps.

A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16 following her arrest by Tehran's morality police for reportedly not observing Iran's strict dress code.

"A woman who comes to the streets with her life in her hands is definitely strong," Farideh, a 64-year-old in Tehran, said with a smile.

Iran stepped up pressure on celebrities and journalists Thursday over the wave of women-led protests sparked by outrage over the death of Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the Islamic republic's morality police.

Filmmakers, athletes, musicians and actors have backed the demonstrations, and many saw it as a signal when the national football team remained in their black tracksuits when the anthems were played before a match in Vienna against Senegal.

Jordanian Mohammad Nsour gave up a career in medicine to pursue his dream of becoming a star bodybuilder.

At 26, he is one step closer, having qualified for Mr Olympia, a prestigious international contest in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he will go up against the sport's biggest names -- and muscles.

"I liked being a doctor, but my passion for bodybuilding is greater," he told AFP at a gym in the capital Amman, where he has been training seven days a week ahead of the competition in December.

Iran on Thursday arrested a reporter who covered the funeral of Mahsa Amini, her lawyer said, the latest of a growing number of journalists to be detained since protests erupted over the young woman's death.

Elahe Mohammadi was summoned by the judicial authorities but was then arrested by security forces while she was on her way to questioning, her lawyer Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi wrote on Twitter.

Lebanon's parliament failed to elect a new president after a first round of voting Thursday amid deep divisions over a replacement for Michel Aoun whose term expires next month.

A majority of lawmakers cast blank ballots, suggesting the election process is likely to drag on, an outcome Lebanon can ill afford as it wrestles with a crippling financial crisis.

Coronavirus vaccinations will not be mandatory for the million-plus fans going to the World Cup in Qatar this year, the Gulf state said Thursday.

But players and match officials may be forced into a secure "bio-bubble" if Covid-19 cases take off again, with the threat of expulsion from the tournament for those who breach the secure environment, the health ministry said.

The 29-day tournament will be the first major global sporting event with fans since the eruption in December 2019 of the Covid pandemic, which has since killed more than six million people.

Decent salaries and stability are the hallmarks of a job in Iraq's civil service, an institution much coveted by young graduates, even as it starves the private sector and hobbles the economy.

The patronage systems that feed the public sector in the oil-rich but war-battered nation are so entrenched that even the outgoing finance minister has despaired of ever trimming them down to size.

"We want work!"

It's a refrain that fresh graduates chant each year on the streets of the southern city of Nassiriyah.

The Lebanese parliament met Thursday to elect a new president, with no consensus on a successor to outgoing head of state Michel Aoun despite an unpredecedented financial crisis.

Deep divisions among MPs have raised fears Lebanon could be left without a president for months after Aoun's mandate runs out at the end of October, further undermining creditor confidence.

The incumbent's own election in 2016 came after a 29-month vacancy at the presidential palace as lawmakers made 45 failed attempts to reach consensus on a candidate.