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Iran Says Iraq to Release $125 Mln of Frozen Funds for Vaccines

A member of the Imam Khomeini Hospital medical personnel receives a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran February 9, 2021. (Reuters)
A member of the Imam Khomeini Hospital medical personnel receives a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran February 9, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Iraq to Release $125 Mln of Frozen Funds for Vaccines

A member of the Imam Khomeini Hospital medical personnel receives a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran February 9, 2021. (Reuters)
A member of the Imam Khomeini Hospital medical personnel receives a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran February 9, 2021. (Reuters)

Iraq has agreed to transfer $125 million of frozen Iranian funds to a European bank for the purchase of 16 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian was quoted as saying by state media on Saturday.

Iran, the hardest hit Middle Eastern country by COVID-19, has complained that US sanctions were preventing it from making payments to buy vaccines.

Ardakanian said the payments would go towards the purchase of vaccines from the World Health Organization (WHO) - sponsored global COVAX vaccine-sharing plan, state news agency IRNA reported.

There was no immediate confirmation by Iraqi officials of the reported release of Iran’s funds for the purchase of vaccines, according to Reuters.

While holding talks with world powers in Vienna to revive its 2015 nuclear accord, Tehran has demanded the release of $20 billion of its oil revenue it says has been frozen in countries such as Iraq, South Korea and China due to US sanctions since 2018.

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Chinese Hackers Reportedly Breached US Court Wiretap Systems

FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Chinese Hackers Reportedly Breached US Court Wiretap Systems

FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Chinese hackers accessed the networks of US broadband providers and obtained information from systems that the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorized US requests for communications data, the newspaper said. It said the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Beijing has in the past denied claims by the US government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.
Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. US investigators have dubbed it "Salt Typhoon.”
Earlier this year, US law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named "Volt Typhoon."