Iran Arrests 12 People Linked to Overseas Agents 

Iran's riot police forces stand in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran December 5, 2022. (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iran's riot police forces stand in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran December 5, 2022. (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Arrests 12 People Linked to Overseas Agents 

Iran's riot police forces stand in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran December 5, 2022. (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iran's riot police forces stand in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran December 5, 2022. (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday arrested 12 people accused of being linked to overseas agents and planning "subversive action", the elite force said in a statement, according to state media. 

"The members of this network, under the guidance of anti-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands, were intending to carry out subversive action by procuring war weapons and acting against national security," the Revolutionary Guards' statement read. 

The statement did not specify the nationality of the individuals or give any other details. 

Since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in police custody, Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests that pose one of the biggest challenges to the republic since its establishment in 1979. 

Tehran has accused Western intelligence services of fomenting the protests and seeking to instigate civil war in Iran. 



Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
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Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)

Russia and Ukraine said Tuesday they had exchanged captured soldiers, the second stage of an agreement struck at peace talks last week for each side to free more than 1,000 prisoners.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday's exchange saw "the return of our injured and severely wounded warriors from Russian captivity."

Neither side said how many soldiers had been freed in the swap -- the second in as many days following another exchange on Monday.

The two sides had agreed in Istanbul last week to release all wounded soldiers and all under the age of 25.

Russia's defense ministry said: "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul, the second group of Russian servicemen was returned."

Zelensky said further exchanges would follow.

"The exchanges are to continue. We are doing everything we can to find and return every single person who is in captivity."

The agreement had appeared in jeopardy over the weekend, with both sides trading accusations of attempting to thwart the exchange.

Russia says Ukraine has still not agreed to collect the bodies of killed soldiers, after Moscow said more than 1,200 corpses were waiting in refrigerated trucks near the border.

Russia said it had agreed to hand over the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, while Kyiv said it would be an "exchange".

Moscow and Kyiv have carried out dozens of prisoner exchanges since Russia invaded in 2022, triggering Europe's largest conflict since World War II.