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Iran Releases Oil Tanker into International Waters after 1 Year of Detention

A screengrab shows Iranian commandos seizing China’s US-bound oil tanker Advantage Sweet on Thursday. Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images
A screengrab shows Iranian commandos seizing China’s US-bound oil tanker Advantage Sweet on Thursday. Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images
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Iran Releases Oil Tanker into International Waters after 1 Year of Detention

A screengrab shows Iranian commandos seizing China’s US-bound oil tanker Advantage Sweet on Thursday. Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images
A screengrab shows Iranian commandos seizing China’s US-bound oil tanker Advantage Sweet on Thursday. Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images

A Chevron-chartered oil tanker seized by Iran more than a year ago is heading toward the Sohar port in Oman, ship tracking data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed on Friday.
The data showed the vessel moving to international waters, with the destination showing as Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
The Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet was boarded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Gulf of Oman in April 2023 after an alleged collision with an Iranian boat.
The US State Department called in March for the immediate release of the tanker. In the same month, the Fars news agency said Iran would unload about $50 million worth of crude from it in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker.
The Advantage Sweet is a Suezmax crude tanker that had been chartered by oil major Chevron.
Iran said it had seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat.
The US Treasury Department reported at the time that the proceeds of Iranian oil smuggling were being used to support the Qods Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guards charged with intelligence and military operations in the Middle East.
Compensations to Iran
The release of the tanker came after an Iranian court earlier on Thursday ordered the US government to pay more than $6.7 billion in compensation over a Swedish company stopping its supply of special dressings and bandages for those afflicted by a rare skin disorder after Washington imposed sanctions on Iran.
Iran’s government initially said it seized the Advantage Sweet because it hit another vessel, something not supported by any evidence. Then Iranian officials linked the Advantage Sweet’s seizure to the court case decided Thursday.
The US in response said it had exempted humanitarian goods, especially medicines and medical equipment, from its sanctions.
The developments follow the recent election of the reformist President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, who has vowed to improve relations with the West.

 

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World

Unknown Gunmen Kill More Than 70 in South Sudan after a Dispute at a Gold Mine

A gold mine in the Sudanese desert on 3 October 2011 (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)
A gold mine in the Sudanese desert on 3 October 2011 (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)
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Unknown Gunmen Kill More Than 70 in South Sudan after a Dispute at a Gold Mine

A gold mine in the Sudanese desert on 3 October 2011 (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)
A gold mine in the Sudanese desert on 3 October 2011 (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Gunmen killed more than 70 people in South Sudan over a gold mining row on the outskirts of the capital over the weekend, a police spokesperson confirmed on Monday.

A video of dozens of bodies at an open ground was shared online, and a local journalist said many other victims are believed to have fled to the bushes, The Associated Press said.

The gold mining site at Jebel Iraq in Central Equatoria State has in the past been the site of violent clashes between illegal miners and mining companies.

Police spokesperson Kwacijwok Dominic Amondoc said he would share more information about the attack once he gets more details.

“All I know is that unknown gunmen attacked Jebel Iraq at a gold mine. There are more than 70 dead and many more injured,” he said.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition, or SPLM/A-IO, condemned the attack on Monday and blamed government forces.

World

France Probes Possible Iran Link after Bomb Attack Foiled Outside Bank of America

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
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France Probes Possible Iran Link after Bomb Attack Foiled Outside Bank of America

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of American building in Paris on the weekend, the interior minister said Monday.

The authorities suspect there could be a link to Iran due to similarities to other recent attempted attacks in Europe which a pro-Iran group claimed credit for, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the premises of the Bank of America in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. Three suspects have since been arrested and the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into alleged terrorism-related offenses.

Authorities are making a “direct link” with Iran because the “modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium,” Nuñez said on French radio RTL on Monday morning.

In those cases there were claims by a pro-Iranian group that “linked them to the conflict” in the Middle-East, The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

The group, known on Telegram under the name Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also claimed responsibility for an attack last week in London, where four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire.

“Typically, intelligence services of this country (Iran) operate in this way: they use proxies, a series of subcontractors, often common criminals, to carry out highly targeted actions aimed at US interests, the interests of the Jewish community, or Iranian opposition figures,” Nuñez said.

Nuñez said French authorities have stepped up security around key personalities and sites since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on Feb. 28, including the personal protection of some figures from the Iranian opposition.

World

Spain Shuts Airspace for US Planes Involved in Iran War

A US Navy sailor prepares to launch an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran at an undisclosed location, March 22, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
A US Navy sailor prepares to launch an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran at an undisclosed location, March 22, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
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Spain Shuts Airspace for US Planes Involved in Iran War

A US Navy sailor prepares to launch an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran at an undisclosed location, March 22, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
A US Navy sailor prepares to launch an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran at an undisclosed location, March 22, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)

Spain's leftist government has closed Spanish airspace to US planes carrying out missions against Iran, in addition to denying Washington use of its bases, the defense minister said on Monday. 

"The bases are not authorized, and of course neither is the use of Spanish airspace for actions related to the war in Iran," Margarita Robles told journalists, confirming a report by El Pais daily. 

Spain's refusal to cooperate has "complicated" US military operations by forcing bombers to change their routes and logistics on their way to the Middle East, El Pais reported. 

The transit or landing of planes is allowed only in case of an emergency, the newspaper said. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has emerged as the highest-profile Western leader to consistently oppose the war, launched by US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and which has since engulfed the entire Middle East. 

His stance has infuriated Spain's traditional NATO ally, with US President Donald Trump threatening to cut trade ties in their latest policy clash. 

Spain had already sparked Trump's anger by refusing to agree to raise NATO defense spending to five percent of member states' GDP as demanded by the US president.