Türkiye Detains 15 for Alleged ISIS Links

Riot police officers secure the entrance of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, Turkey, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Riot police officers secure the entrance of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, Turkey, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Türkiye Detains 15 for Alleged ISIS Links

Riot police officers secure the entrance of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, Turkey, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Riot police officers secure the entrance of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, Turkey, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Turkish police have arrested 15 people for alleged links to ISIS, the country's official news agency said late Saturday, following days of security warnings by Western consulates.

Anadolu news agency, sourcing an Istanbul police statement, said the group was detained for purportedly planning attacks on the Swedish and Dutch Consulates in Istanbul as well as on churches and synagogues. But the police added they couldn't ascertain any “concrete threats” against the locations.

According to The Associated Press, the intelligence that led to the police operation stated that the group may have received instructions from an affiliate of ISIS, which is active in South Asia and Central Asia.

Sweden and the Netherlands have been the subject of angry protests in Türkiye after an anti-Muslim activist burned the Quran in Stockholm, and a similar action took place in The Hague.

This week, a group of Western countries temporarily closed down their consulates in Istanbul over security concerns. Turkish government officials accused them of failing to share information on the security threat that led to the closures and of aiming to cause harm to Türkiye.



No Known Intelligence that Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Idrees Ali
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Idrees Ali
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No Known Intelligence that Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Idrees Ali
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Idrees Ali

US defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes on Iran's nuclear program over the weekend.

"I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise," Hegseth said, Reuters reported.

After the strikes, several experts also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of Fordow before the strike early Sunday morning and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the US and UN nuclear inspectors.

They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the near weapons-grade 60% highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack. Hegseth's comments denying those claims came at a news briefing where he accused the media of downplaying the success of US strikes on Iran's nuclear program following a leaked, preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months.

Hegseth said the assessment was low confidence, and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged by recent US strikes, and that it would take years to rebuild.