27 ISIS Suspects Held in Turkey as Attacks Planned

Haydarpasa port and southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait are pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
Haydarpasa port and southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait are pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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27 ISIS Suspects Held in Turkey as Attacks Planned

Haydarpasa port and southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait are pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
Haydarpasa port and southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait are pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Turkish police have detained 27 people in Istanbul over suspected links to the ISIS group Sunday, state-run media said Sunday.

The Anadolu news agency reported that the suspects were held in simultaneous early morning raids by anti-terrorist police in 15 districts across Istanbul as they allegedly prepared to carry out attacks.

The agency said the alleged attacks were in response to recent social media posts that insulted the Prophet Muhammad and that a "large number" of documents and digital material was recovered during the searches.

Turkey has suffered a number of attacks by Islamic State militants over the last five years, including the bombing of a peace rally in the capital Ankara in October 2015 that killed 102 people.



Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
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Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP

Iran plans to hold talks about its disputed nuclear program with three European powers on Nov. 29 in Geneva, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, days after the UN atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran.
Iran reacted to the resolution, which was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with what government officials called various measures such as activating numerous new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.
Kyodo said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's government was seeking a solution to the nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration in January of US President-elect Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
A senior Iranian official confirmed that the meeting would go ahead next Friday, adding that "Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks".
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Indirect talks between President Joe Biden's administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said in his election campaign in September that "We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal".