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5 Iran Border Guards Released from Captivity

A Pakistani border security official (R) and an Iranian border official meet at Zero Point in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan. (AFP)
A Pakistani border security official (R) and an Iranian border official meet at Zero Point in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan. (AFP)
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5 Iran Border Guards Released from Captivity

A Pakistani border security official (R) and an Iranian border official meet at Zero Point in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan. (AFP)
A Pakistani border security official (R) and an Iranian border official meet at Zero Point in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan. (AFP)

Five out of 12 members of the Iranian border guards were released following their abduction in October by militants near the Pakistani border, announced the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

"The five ... who were kidnapped in the Mirjaveh border post by the Jaish al-Zolm (Jaish al-Adl) returned home on Wednesday night. They were released after joint efforts made with the Pakistani side," the Guards said in a statement, Tasnim reported.

The fate of the others remains unknown, but an Interior Ministry official told Iran's ILNA news agency that the others will be freed soon.

The Iranian separatist group Jaish al-Adl said last month it had abducted 12 border guards, which included members of the Guards, on the border with Pakistan in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The area has seen occasional clashes with Baluch separatists and also drug traffickers.

Details were sketchy and Iran has since twice revised the number of the abducted border force, including some from the vaunted Revolutionary Guard.

Pakistan has promised to help free the Iranian guards.

Jaish al-Adl kidnapped five Iranian border guards in 2014, releasing four of them two months later after mediation by local Sunni clerics.

Iran had threatened to hit militant bases in Pakistan unless Islamabad took action to secure its border area, which Tehran says has become a safe haven for anti-Iran groups to operate.

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World

Erdogan Vows New Measures After Deadly Türkiye School Shootings

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Vows New Measures After Deadly Türkiye School Shootings

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that his government would introduce sweeping measures, including restrictions on gun ownership, after two school shootings last week that shocked Türkiye.

Eight students aged 10 and 11 and a teacher were killed Wednesday when a 14-year-old student opened fire at a school in the southern province of Kahramanmaras.

Authorities said the attacker, who died at the scene, had brought five firearms and was the son of a former police inspector, who has since been arrested.

A separate attack on Tuesday in southeastern Sanliurfa province involved a former student who opened fire at his old high school before taking his own life when confronted by police.

"We will implement additional legal regulations regarding the limitation of gun ownership," Erdogan said after a weekly cabinet meeting.

Penalties would be increased for firearm owners who fail to properly secure their weapons, particularly in cases where children gain access to them, he added.

Mass shootings are rare in Türkiye, and the incidents have sparked public concern.

"When we look at similar attacks around the world, especially those carried out in the United States, we see that one of the perpetrators' aims is to terrorize society," Erdogan said.

"Such attacks target not only the shedding of innocent blood but also, like terrorist organizations, provoking public outrage and creating anxiety, unease, fear, and distress within society".

School safety would be among the government's top priorities, he added.

He also said the authorities would expand surveillance online, including by making use of artificial intelligence.

The relevant institutions would address what he described as "violence and moral decay" on television screens, he added, calling for greater emphasis on productions that promote family values.

"Portraying perpetrators in productions themed around crime and violence as strong, influential, exempt from punishment, or even respectable undermines our youth's connection to reality," he said.

World

Russia Urges US-Iran to Keep Ceasefire, Continue Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a session at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a session at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russia Urges US-Iran to Keep Ceasefire, Continue Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a session at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a session at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. (Reuters)

Moscow on Monday called for the US-Iran ceasefire to be maintained and for diplomatic efforts to continue, after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Iranian counterpart, a close Russian ally.

"The Russian side again emphasized the need to preserve the truce, which must be observed within the parameters initially agreed upon and announced by the Pakistani mediators," the foreign ministry said after the call between Lavrov and Iran's Abbas Araghchi.

Russia is one of Iran's few allies and has repeatedly condemned the United States for launching its bombing campaign at the end of February that triggered the war.

The Kremlin has profited from high oil prices triggered by the conflict but repeatedly called for Washington to back down and for a long-term diplomatic solution to be found.

"The importance was noted of continuing diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the situation from spinning out of control and averting a relapse into armed confrontation," the ministry added.

Russia criticized what it called Washington's "unlawful naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and seizure of an Iranian container ship".

Moscow also said Iran had pledged to do everything it could to ensure the unhindered passage of any Russian vessels and cargo through the Strait.

World

France's Macron Urges Iran, US to De-Escalate Amid Hormuz Tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he attends a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Gdansk, Poland, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he attends a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Gdansk, Poland, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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France's Macron Urges Iran, US to De-Escalate Amid Hormuz Tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he attends a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Gdansk, Poland, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he attends a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Gdansk, Poland, April 20, 2026. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for the United States and Iran to de-escalate amid increased tensions over the weekend over the Strait of Hormuz.

"Our position remains the same. We need ‌to settle ‌things through diplomacy. ‌Everyone must ⁠calm down," Macron ⁠said during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The United States has maintained its blockade ⁠of Iranian ports, while Iran ‌lifted ‌and then reimposed its ‌own blockade on the Strait ‌of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied gas supply ‌usually passes.

Macron also said that France was ⁠not ⁠specifically targeted in the strait after Iran fired shots on ships on Saturday, including a container ship belonging to the CMA CGM.

CMA CGM had described them as "warning shots" and said at the time the crew was safe.