IRGC Retrieves Hundreds of Millions of Dollars from Abroad

CEO of Chadormalu Ali Taherzadeh speaks to Director of Bank Sepah Ayatollah Ebrahimi. (Telegram)
CEO of Chadormalu Ali Taherzadeh speaks to Director of Bank Sepah Ayatollah Ebrahimi. (Telegram)
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IRGC Retrieves Hundreds of Millions of Dollars from Abroad

CEO of Chadormalu Ali Taherzadeh speaks to Director of Bank Sepah Ayatollah Ebrahimi. (Telegram)
CEO of Chadormalu Ali Taherzadeh speaks to Director of Bank Sepah Ayatollah Ebrahimi. (Telegram)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence unit announced it retrieved $560 million in revenues from frozen mining sector exports abroad.

The KhabarOnline news agency reported that the IRGC's public relations returned over 92 percent of the financial pledges to the Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company in Yazd province, equivalent to $560 million.

The statement said that the intelligence service was tasked with returning the foreign currency resulting from Chadormalu's exports, noting that the operation was carried out by the "Unkinw Soldiers of Imam Zaman" in Yazd.

The statement did not disclose the country from which the intelligence services transferred the money or the date of the operation.

The Tehran Stock Exchange data, dating back to 2016, indicate that Chadormalu's resources amount to $2 billion annually.

Bank Sepah, which is linked to the military, and the National Steel Company are among the major investors in the group.

Last January, the mining and mineral industries' resources exceeded $9 billion.

The announcement would expose Chadormalu, one of the largest iron companies in the country, to the risk of US sanctions, given the sanctions facing the IRGC.

It could also deprive Iranian banks of financial transfers and use the Swift network after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which combats money laundry, said Iran would stay on the blacklist.

Iran is struggling to return tens of billions of its frozen assets while facing harsh US sanctions after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.

Recently, the authorities have tried to curb a record decline in the exchange rate of the Iranian riyal against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar.

On March 10, a member of the Iranian-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, Hamid Hosseini, said Iraq would return $500 million of Iranian funds frozen in its banks. He predicted that Iran's exports would exceed $9 billion annually.

Iran has frozen assets in Iraq from the proceeds of selling gas and electricity.

Hosseini said that Iraq's debts to Iran exceeded $10 billion and that it was recently decided to pay off some debts.

Information about frozen Iranian assets abroad is conflicting, and some unofficial estimates indicate that they range between $100 billion and $120 billion.

Iran is currently demanding the return of frozen assets from its oil sales in Japan and South Korea.

Tehran's holdings in South Korea are estimated at $7 billion, $1.6 billion in Japan, and $1.5 billion in Luxembourg. Last December, Iranian newspapers reported that Iran's frozen assets in China amounted to $30 billion.



Air Tankers Fight Los Angeles Fires from Frantic Skies

Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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Air Tankers Fight Los Angeles Fires from Frantic Skies

Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

In the skies above Los Angeles, air tankers and helicopters silhouetted by the setting California sun dart in and out of giant wildfire plumes, dropping much-needed flame retardant and precious water onto the angry fires below.
Looking in almost any direction from a chopper above the city, AFP reporters witnessed half a dozen blazes -- eruptions of smoldering smoke emerging from the mountainous landscape like newly active volcanoes, and filling up the horizon.
Within minutes, a previously quiet airspace above the nascent Kenneth Fire had become a hotbed of frenzied activity, as firefighting officials quickly refocused their significant air resources on this latest blaze.
Around half a dozen helicopters buzzed at low altitude, tipping water onto the edge of the inferno.
Higher up, small aircraft periodically guided giant tankers that dumped bright-red retardant onto the flames.
"There's never been so many at the same time, just ripping" through the skies, said helicopter pilot Albert Azouz.
Flying for a private aviation company since 2016, he has seen plenty of fires including the deadly Malibu blazes of six years ago.
"That was insane," he recalled.
But this, he repeatedly says while hovering his helicopter above the chaos, is "crazy town."
The new Kenneth Fire burst into life late Thursday afternoon near Calabasas, a swanky enclave outside Los Angeles made famous by its celebrity residents such as reality television's Kardashian clan.
Aircraft including Boeing Chinook helitankers fitted with 3,000-gallon tanks have been brought in from as far afield as Canada.
Unable to fly during the first few hours of the Los Angeles fires on Tuesday due to gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, these have become an invaluable tool in the battle to contain blazes and reduce any further devastation.
Helicopters performed several hundred drops on Thursday, while conditions permitted.
Those helicopters equipped to operate at night continued to buzz around the smoke-filled region, working frantically to tackle the flames, before stronger gusts are forecast to sweep back in to the Los Angeles basin overnight.