عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

South Korea Hopes Iran's Frozen Funds Will Be Resolved Smoothly

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
TT
TT

South Korea Hopes Iran's Frozen Funds Will Be Resolved Smoothly

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)

South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday that it hopes the issue of Iranian frozen funds will be resolved smoothly.

The ministry said it had no information regarding media reports that Iran may free five detained US citizens as part of a deal under which $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would be unfrozen, according to Reuters.

"Our government has been closely consulting with involved countries such as the United States and Iran to resolve the frozen fund issue, and hopes that the issue will be resolved amicably," the ministry said in a statement.

Iran has transferred five Iranian-Americans from the IRGC-affiliated Evin prison to house arrest in exchange for frozen funds in South Korea.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that the Iranian assets, which were previously held in South Korea, were converted through a Swiss bank.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said the next step would be the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian frozen assets in South Korea to a special account in Qatar which Iran could access only for humanitarian purchases such as food and medicine.

Ties between South Korea and Iran have been tense in the past five years, after South Korea froze over $9 billion in Iranian funds under US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

On 29 July, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi submitted a bill to parliament called “The Referral of Dispute between the Central Bank of Iran and the Government of the Korean Republic for Arbitration”.

Shahriar Heydari, deputy head of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in press statements that the draft allows the government to reconsider the diplomatic ties with South Korea.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

News Chopper Crash in LA Kills Three

A Los Angeles Police officer stands guard near the scene after a news helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, a suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Blake Fagan / AFP)
A Los Angeles Police officer stands guard near the scene after a news helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, a suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Blake Fagan / AFP)
TT
TT

News Chopper Crash in LA Kills Three

A Los Angeles Police officer stands guard near the scene after a news helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, a suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Blake Fagan / AFP)
A Los Angeles Police officer stands guard near the scene after a news helicopter crashed in Chatsworth, a suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Blake Fagan / AFP)

Three people were killed Tuesday in a fiery crash when a US news media helicopter covering a deadly bus crash came down in a Los Angeles neighborhood.

Media in the city had scrambled to cover a deadly accident, after an SUV ploughed into a bus in the Chatsworth area, northwest of downtown, killing another three people and injuring many others in a city where news outlets routinely fly over large incidents.

Reporters who were at the scene of the bus crash said there was a loud bang, with some saying they saw a helicopter come down around a block away, sending plumes of smoke into the air.

Aerial footage showed a large fire that appeared to involve shipping containers and cars, and the wreckage of a helicopter, whose mangled tail and rotors could be seen in the flames.

There was no immediate confirmation of the identity of those aboard the helicopter, but police confirmed early on it was a media chopper and the local NBC4 affiliate reported live that it was unable to make contact with its crew.

Then, during sometimes emotional live coverage on NBC4, veteran news anchor Colleen Williams confirmed it was the local news station's helicopter that crashed.

"We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we'd lost contact with our people out there, and we've just received confirmation," AFP quoted Williams as saying.

Dozens of firefighters were sent to the scene, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

"Four patients have been assessed. Three patients have been determined deceased on scene.

One patient has been transported to a local hospital in unknown condition," a statement said.

One of the dead appeared to be a person who was a pedestrian on the ground when the crash happened.

Los Angeles, America's second biggest city, is a competitive and crowded media market, where TV stations compete aggressively for stories.

Many of them routinely make use of aerial coverage, sending helicopters into the city's already busy skies to cover everything from fires to dramatic car chases.

There are usually two people on board a news media helicopter -- the pilot and the reporter-camera operator who frequently reports live from the sky.

World

US Military Says It Destroyed 2 Small Iranian Boats Trying to Steal a Drone

A US Navy sailor walks across the flight deck of the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea, September 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A US Navy sailor walks across the flight deck of the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea, September 11, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

US Military Says It Destroyed 2 Small Iranian Boats Trying to Steal a Drone

A US Navy sailor walks across the flight deck of the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea, September 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A US Navy sailor walks across the flight deck of the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea, September 11, 2026. (Reuters)

The US military said Tuesday that it opened fire and destroyed two small Iranian boats this week trying to steal a drone ship in the waters off Iran.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, US Central Command spokesman said that “Iranian small boats recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forcefully responded."

Iranian state media reported Monday that a pair of fishing boats came under attack in Hormozgan province on Iran’s southern coast and that several fishermen were reported missing, citing a provincial official.

It is the latest volley of fire in the more than six-month-old war as both sides seek control over the Strait of Hormuz, where the US has succeeded in recent weeks in loosening Iran’s grip over the critical energy shipping corridor. But the impact of the unpopular conflict has driven up the cost of oil and gasoline prices, posing political problems for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

Hawkins said Tuesday that the drone involved is a “Saildrone” — a small, roughly 25-foot (8-meter) craft — that can operate by itself. US Central Command has been using them in the region for several years to surveil maritime traffic.

Hawkins said all of the command’s surface drones “remain fully accounted for.” The military has long asserted that the technology on the Saildrones is commercially available and not sensitive in nature.

The latest drone incident, which was reported earlier by Axios, comes a week after Iranian state television reported that the country's navy captured one of the US military’s underwater drones at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

Hawkins said then that an Anduril Dive-LD drone had malfunctioned while it was surveying the waters in the region and that the US military no longer had possession of it.

He stressed that the drone was defective and noted that it was also an “older model that neither collected sensitive data no carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.”

World

UK, US and Netherlands Issue Advisory on Iran-Linked Spyware

Iranians walk past a wall decorated with the image of assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the national flag, in central of Tehran on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Iranians walk past a wall decorated with the image of assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the national flag, in central of Tehran on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

UK, US and Netherlands Issue Advisory on Iran-Linked Spyware

Iranians walk past a wall decorated with the image of assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the national flag, in central of Tehran on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Iranians walk past a wall decorated with the image of assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the national flag, in central of Tehran on September 14, 2026. (AFP)

Britain, the United States and the Netherlands on Tuesday issued a joint cybersecurity advisory detailing spyware they say is used by Iranian state-linked actors to target dissidents, activists and journalists.

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre said Iranian state-linked cyber actors had used a spyware family known as "CHOSEN ‌BRICK" to steal ‌emails, messages and other ‌sensitive information ⁠through "spear-phishing" campaigns on ⁠messaging platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram.

"The details of this cyber campaign reveal how Iran ruthlessly uses digital surveillance in pursuit of its aim to repress critics of the regime, stealing emails and messages and accessing ⁠devices," Paul Chichester, NCSC Director of Operations, ‌said in ‌a statement.

Iran's embassy in London did not immediately ‌respond to a request for comment.

The malware, ‌according to the advisory, can collect information from contact lists, emails and social media accounts, capture screen content and access a device's microphone. ‌The NCSC said some victims' personal details had later appeared on pro-Iranian ⁠leak ⁠sites.

The NCSC said the attackers often posed as trusted contacts on messaging apps and tailored their approach to individual targets. In some cases, it said, they used fake documents, including fabricated MRI test results, to persuade victims to download the malware.

The NCSC, alongside the FBI and the Netherlands' AIVD intelligence service, said Iran "almost certainly" uses cyber operations to help suppress people it sees as threats.