عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

France Expels Iranian Suspected of Having Links to IRGC

FILE PHOTO: Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards participate in a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran September 21, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN)/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards participate in a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran September 21, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN)/File Photo
TT
TT

France Expels Iranian Suspected of Having Links to IRGC

FILE PHOTO: Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards participate in a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran September 21, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN)/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards participate in a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran September 21, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN)/File Photo

France on Wednesday expelled an Iranian suspected of influence peddling on behalf of Tehran and having links to the Revolutionary Guard’s ideological army, his lawyer and Iranian officials said.
Biazar had been held in administrative detention since the beginning of June and was subject to a deportation order from the French interior ministry, said AFP..
His lawyer, Rachid Lemoudaa, said that the expulsion order was based on assumptions and that his client “have never been made aware of any threat whatsoever".
Mohammad Mahdi Rahimi, the head of public relations for the office of the Iranian president, wrote on X that Biazar "has been released and is on his way back to his homeland."
The case has emerged at a time of heightened tensions between Paris and Tehran, with three French citizens, described by France as "state hostages," still imprisoned in Iran.
A fourth French detainee, Louis Arnaud, held in Iran since September 2022, was suddenly released last month.
Activist group Iran Justice and victims of human rights violations filed the torture complaint against Biazar last month in Paris.
A representative of the French interior ministry, speaking at a hearing earlier Wednesday, said Biazar was an "agent of influence, an agitator who promotes the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, more worryingly, harasses opponents of the regime."
The representative accused Biazar of filming journalists from Iranian opposition media in September in front of the Iranian consulate in Paris after an arson attack on the building.
French authorities also accused him of posting messages on social networks in connection with the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in which he denounced "Zionist dogs."
The complaint referred to the regular broadcasts by Iranian state television of statements by, and even interviews with, Iranian or foreign prisoners, which activists regard as forced confessions.
"It is incomprehensible ... that no legal proceedings have been initiated" against Biazar, Chirinne Ardakani, the Paris-based lawyer behind the complaint, told AFP.
She said there were "serious indications" implicating Biazar "in the production, recording and broadcasting of forced confessions obtained clearly under torture."
"Nothing is clear in this case," she added.
The French citizens still held in Iran are Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris, detained since May 2022, and another man identified only as Olivier.
Kohler appeared on Iranian television in October 2022 giving comments activists said amounted to a forced confession.
Amnesty International describes Kohler as "arbitrarily detained ... amidst mounting evidence Iran's authorities are holding her hostage to compel specific action[s] by French authorities."

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Russia's FSB Says Ukraine's SBU Was behind Assassination Attempt on Top General

In this image made from video and provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on June 23, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image made from video and provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on June 23, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
TT
TT

Russia's FSB Says Ukraine's SBU Was behind Assassination Attempt on Top General

In this image made from video and provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on June 23, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image made from video and provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on June 23, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev speaks to servicemen in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia's Federal Security Service said on Monday that the men suspected of shooting one of the country's most senior military intelligence officer had confessed that they were carrying out orders from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Ukraine has denied any involvement in Friday's attempted assassination of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's ‌GRU military ‌intelligence service. Alexeyev has regained ‌consciousness ⁠after surgery, reported Reuters.

Russia ‌said that the suspected shooter, a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen named by Moscow as Lyubomir Korba, had been questioned after he was extradited from Dubai. A suspected accomplice, Viktor Vasin, has also been questioned.

The FSB said in ⁠a statement that both Korba and Vasin had "confessed their ‌guilt" and given details ‍of the shooting which ‍they said was "committed on behalf of ‍the Security Service of Ukraine."

The FSB did not provide any evidence that Reuters was able to immediately verify. It was not possible to contact the men while they were in detention in Russia. The SBU could ⁠not be reached for immediate comment on the FSB statement.

The FSB said Korba was recruited by the SBU in August 2025 in Ternopil, western Ukraine, underwent training in Kyiv and was paid monthly in crypto-currency. For killing Alexeyev, Korba was promised $30,000 by the SBU, the FSB said.

The FSB said Polish intelligence was involved in his recruitment. ‌Poland could not be reached for immediate comment.

World

Venezuela's Machado Says Ally 'Kidnapped' after His Release

Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
TT
TT

Venezuela's Machado Says Ally 'Kidnapped' after His Release

Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Venezuela's Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that armed men "kidnapped" a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following ex-leader Nicolas Maduro's capture.

The country's Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed later that same day that former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and to be put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release.

Guanipa would be placed under house arrest "in order to safeguard the criminal process," the office said in a statement on Monday. The conditions of Guanipa's release have yet to be made public.

Machado claimed that her close ally had been "kidnapped" in the capital Caracas by armed men "dressed in civilian clothes" who took him away by force.

"We demand his immediate release," she wrote on social media platform X.

The arrest came after his release from prison on Sunday along with two other opposition figures, and as lawmakers prepared to vote Tuesday on a historic amnesty law covering charges used to lock up dissidents in almost three decades of socialist rule, reported AFP.

Shortly after his release, Guanipa visited several detention centers in Caracas, where he met with relatives of political prisoners and spoke to the press.

Guanipa had appeared earlier Sunday in a video posted on his X account, showing what looked like his release papers.

"Here we are, being released," Guanipa said in the video, adding that he had spent "10 months in hiding, almost nine months detained here" in Caracas.

- 'Let's go to an electoral process' -

Speaking to AFP later on Sunday, he had called on the government to respect the 2024 presidential election, which opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was widely considered to have won. Maduro claimed victory and remained in power till January.

"Let's respect it. That's the basic thing, that's the logical thing. Oh, you don't want to respect it? Then let's go to an electoral process," Guanipa said.

The opposition ally of Machado was arrested in May 2025, in connection with an alleged conspiracy to undermine legislative and regional elections that were boycotted by the opposition.

He was charged with terrorism, money laundering and incitement to violence and hatred.

Guanipa had been in hiding prior to his arrest. He was last seen in public in January 2025, when he accompanied Machado to an anti-Maduro rally.

Following Maduro's capture by US special forces on January 3, authorities have started to slowly release political prisoners. Rights groups estimate that around 700 people are still waiting to be freed.

A former Machado legal advisor, Perkins Rocha, was also freed on Sunday. So was Freddy Superlano, who once won a gubernatorial election in Barinas, a city that is the home turf of the iconic late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

"We hugged at home," Rocha's wife Maria Constanza Cipriani wrote on X, with a photo of them.

Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela, had initially celebrated Guanipa's release.

"My dear Juan Pablo, counting down the minutes until I can hug you! You are a hero, and history will ALWAYS recognize it. Freedom for ALL political prisoners!!" she wrote on X on Sunday.

NGO Foro Penal said it had confirmed the release of 35 prisoners on Sunday. It said that since January 8 nearly 400 people arrested for political reasons have been freed thus far.

Lawmakers gave their initial backing to a draft amnesty last week which covered the types of crimes used to lock up dissidents during 27 years of socialist rule.

But Venezuela's largest opposition coalition denounced "serious omissions" in the proposed amnesty measures on Friday.

Meanwhile, relatives of prisoners are growing increasingly impatient for their loved ones to be freed.

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro's vice president, is pushing the amnesty bill as a milestone on the path to reconciliation.

Rodriguez took power in Venezuela with the blessing of US President Donald Trump, who is eyeing American access to what are the world's largest proven oil reserves.

As part of its reforms, Rodriguez's government has taken steps towards opening up the oil industry and restoring diplomatic ties with Washington, which were severed by Maduro in 2019.

World

SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
TT
TT

SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS

South Korea grounded an aging fleet of military helicopters on Monday after a chopper crashed during a training exercise and killed two people on board.

The AH-1S Cobra was training for emergency landings when it "crashed due to an unidentified cause" in Gapyeong county west of Seoul, the army said in a statement.

Two service members were taken to hospital and later pronounced dead, AFP reported.

Photos in local media showed the helicopter's crumpled fuselage lying on a rocky river bank.

"Following the accident, the Army has suspended operations of all aircraft of the same model" and is investigating the cause, the forces said.

The AH-1S Cobra is a US-made, single-engine anti-tank attack helicopter.

Some of those used by South Korea's military are more than 30 years old. It is not clear how many are currently in service.

The country's defense acquisition agency said in 2022 that the Army's Cobra helicopters were "scheduled to be retired" as domestically developed light-armed choppers started flying.