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Mossad Foils Iranian Attempt to Assassinate Western, Israeli Figures

A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
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Mossad Foils Iranian Attempt to Assassinate Western, Israeli Figures

A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)

Israeli officials revealed that the Mossad intelligence agency had recently thwarted an Iranian assassination plot against three western and Israeli figures in Turkey, Germany and France.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force had sought to assassinate an Israeli consulate employee in Turkey's Istanbul, a senior American general in Germany and a journalist in France, reported Israel's Ynet and Kan state broadcaster.

Israeli sources confirmed that the Mossad foiled the plot.

The Israeli reports confirm one by the opposition Iran International website that said Tehran had sought to assassinate an Israeli consulate employee in Istanbul.

The website, which is based in London, reported that the Quds Force was to carry out the assassination.

The assailant is part of a secret unit of the Quds Force that "plots and sets up terrorist infrastructure outside Iran" and mainly targets western and opposition figures.

The report added that the assailant was to carry out the assassinations in Istanbul, Germany and France.

He has since been arrested in Europe. He confessed to receiving 150,000 dollars to plan the assassination. He would receive a million dollars after completing the operation with the help of local drug dealers.

The report said this was not the first time Iranians attempt to assassinate Israelis around the world.

Two months ago, Kan reported that Turkish and Israeli intelligence thwarted an attempt to assassinate businessman Yair Geller in retaliation to the killing of Iranian nuclear chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020.

Iran has also been blamed for hampering attempts at normalizing relations between Turkey and Israel.

Iran has vowed to retaliate to the 2020 assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

He was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in January 2020.

Tehran has also vowed to retaliate to the killing of Fakhrizadeh that it blames on Israel.

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World

US Targets Iran's 'Shadow Fleet' over Crackdown on Protesters

The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
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US Targets Iran's 'Shadow Fleet' over Crackdown on Protesters

The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on nine vessels of what is ​known as the shadow fleet and eight related firms, the US Treasury Department said in a statement, as Washington sought to escalate pressure on Iran over the recent killing of protesters.

"Today’s sanctions target a critical component of how Iran generates the funds used to repress its own people. As previously outlined, ⁠Treasury will continue to track the tens of millions ‌of dollars that the regime ‍has stolen and ‍is desperately attempting to wire to banks ‍outside of Iran," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.

Rights groups say thousands of people, including bystanders, were killed during the unrest in Iran, ​which they describe as the biggest crackdown since clerics took power ⁠in the 1979 revolution.

Trump had repeatedly threatened to intervene against Iran over the recent killings of protesters there, but protests dwindled last week and President Donald Trump's rhetoric regarding Iran has eased.

The shadow fleet refers to ships that carry oil that is under sanctions. They are typically old, their ownership opaque and they sail without the top-tier insurance cover needed to meet ‌international standards for oil majors and many ports.

World

French Prosecutors Investigate Seized Oil Tanker Suspected of Evading Sanctions on Russia

In this photo, provided by the French Army on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, is pictured after being intercepted by France’s Navy. (French Military via AP)
In this photo, provided by the French Army on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, is pictured after being intercepted by France’s Navy. (French Military via AP)
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French Prosecutors Investigate Seized Oil Tanker Suspected of Evading Sanctions on Russia

In this photo, provided by the French Army on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, is pictured after being intercepted by France’s Navy. (French Military via AP)
In this photo, provided by the French Army on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, is pictured after being intercepted by France’s Navy. (French Military via AP)

French prosecutors said Friday they opened an investigation into an oil tanker intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by the French navy and suspected of shipping Russian petroleum in violation of sanctions against Moscow.

The Grinch, an oil tanker that came from Murmansk in northwestern Russia and is suspected of being part of the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, was redirected to an anchorage following Thursday’s operation by the French navy.

Prosecutors in the southern French city of Marseille said Friday they were investigating the ship's alleged failure to confirm its nationality, The AP news reported.

A video provided by the French military show members of the navy boarding the ship from a helicopter.

Russia is believed to be using what has been described as a “shadow fleet” of over 400 ships to evade sanctions over its war on Ukraine. France and other countries have vowed to crack down.

The fleet is a compilation of aging vessels and tankers owned by nontransparent entities with addresses in non-sanctioning countries, and sailing under flags from such countries.

Last September, French naval forces boarded another oil tanker off the French Atlantic coast that Macron also linked to the shadow fleet. Putin denounced that interception as an act of piracy.

The tanker’s captain will go on trial in February over the crew’s alleged refusal to cooperate, according to French judicial authorities.

World

France PM Survives No-Confidence Vote Over Forced Budget

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu reacts after the second of the two votes on a no-confidence motion at the Assemblee Nationale, France's Parliament lower house in Paris on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu reacts after the second of the two votes on a no-confidence motion at the Assemblee Nationale, France's Parliament lower house in Paris on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
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France PM Survives No-Confidence Vote Over Forced Budget

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu reacts after the second of the two votes on a no-confidence motion at the Assemblee Nationale, France's Parliament lower house in Paris on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu reacts after the second of the two votes on a no-confidence motion at the Assemblee Nationale, France's Parliament lower house in Paris on January 23, 2026. (AFP)

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived a no-confidence vote Friday following his move to force his budget through parliament, in a symbolic victory with more such challenges expected.

Lecornu on Tuesday used a constitutional power to ram part of the 2026 budget through parliament without a vote, after making concessions to gain the backing of the Socialists.

The key swing group showed their support Friday by blocking the no-confidence motion filed by the hard left from passing.

A second no-confidence motion filed by the far right was also blocked.

Lecornu will have to use the same constitutional power twice more to enact the full budget into law, exposing Lecornu to further no-confidence motions.

"Things are now at an impasse. The text can no longer be voted on. And we believe France must have a budget," the prime minister said on Tuesday.

The move marked a rowback for Lecornu who pledged last year to seek parliament's approval, in a bid to avoid the fate of his two predecessors who were ousted over budget negotiations.

But on Monday, Lecornu conceded with "a certain degree of regret and a bit of bitterness" that he had to invoke the power to push the budget through.

Ahead of Friday's vote, the Socialists signaled that the use of the measure was "the least bad solution" and the latest draft showed "progress" with concessions including an increase in a top-up benefit for the lowest-paid employees and the rollout of one-euro meals for students.

After the second part of the budget is rammed through on Friday, likely triggering another no-confidence motion, the budget text must then be reviewed by the upper-house Senate before returning to the National Assembly for final adoption.