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US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
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US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Sunday and discuss Iran's response to a recent American proposal for a nuclear deal, a US official said late on Wednesday.

Iran said on Monday it will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a US offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable," while US President Donald Trump said talks would continue.

Trump told a podcast on Monday he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, Reuters said.

Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran's disputed uranium enrichment activities and has threatened it with bombing if no agreement is reached.

Iran has long said it has no plans to develop nuclear weapons and is only interested in atomic power generation and other peaceful projects.

During his first White House term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment drive in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

Uneasy relations between Iran and the US go back decades. Tehran says Washington has interfered in its affairs, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against a prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a US drone strike.

Washington cites Iran's backing of militant groups in the Middle East including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen to say that Iran poses a threat to US ally Israel and Washington's interests in the region.

The militant groups describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.

Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place."

The decision by the US to evacuate some personnel comes at a volatile moment in the region. Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked and US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

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World

Turkish Authorities Investigate Drone Crash Days after Shooting Down Another UAV

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Turkish Authorities Investigate Drone Crash Days after Shooting Down Another UAV

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Authorities on Friday opened an investigation into an unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed in northwest Türkiye, just days after the country shot down another drone that entered its airspace from the Black Sea.

Residents in Kocaeli province discovered the damaged UAV in a field, prompting an official investigation into the wreckage, NTV news channel and other reports said.

An initial assessment indicates the aircraft could be a Russian‑made Orlan‑10 reconnaissance drone, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, adding that an investigation was ongoing, The AP news reported.

On Monday, Turkish F-16 fighter planes intercepted what officials described as an “out of control” drone after it violated the country’s airspace.

The defense ministry said that drone was destroyed in a safe location to protect civilians and air traffic. Türkiye's government subsequently warned both Russia and Ukraine to exercise greater caution over Black Sea security.

That shootdown came after a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian “shadow fleet” of tankers off the Turkish coast, raising concerns in Türkiye about the risk of the war in Ukraine spilling over into the region.

The defense ministry said the drone that was shot down on Monday likely broke into small fragments that scattered over a wide area, complicating efforts to identify it. Search and technical analysis efforts were still underway, it said.

World

UK Imposes Sanctions on Perpetrators of Violence Against Syrian Civilians

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, the Union Flag flies on the top of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence in London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, FILE)
FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, the Union Flag flies on the top of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence in London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, FILE)
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UK Imposes Sanctions on Perpetrators of Violence Against Syrian Civilians

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, the Union Flag flies on the top of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence in London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, FILE)
FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, the Union Flag flies on the top of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence in London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, FILE)

Britain ​imposed sanctions on Friday on individuals and organizations it said were linked to violence perpetrated against civilians in Syria, including some who financially supported former president Bashar al-Assad's government.

While Britain ‌has eased some ‌sanctions on ‌Syria ⁠as ​the country ‌seeks to rebuild after the collapse of the Assad regime a year ago, it said it was taking action against those who were trying to undermine peace ⁠in the Middle Eastern country.

The government ‌measures announced on ‍Friday are ‍targeted at individuals involved in coastal ‍violence in Syria in March, as well as historic violence committed during the country's civil war, the statement ​said.

"Accountability and justice for all Syrians is vital to ensure ⁠a successful and sustainable political settlement in Syria," foreign minister Yvette Cooper said.

The sanctions, a combination of asset freezes and travel bans, targeted four individuals and three organisations, while two individuals who gave financial backing to the Assad regime are also being sanctioned.

World

Ukraine Hits Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Tanker in Mediterranean

Crude oil tanker transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File Photo
Crude oil tanker transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File Photo
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Ukraine Hits Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Tanker in Mediterranean

Crude oil tanker transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File Photo
Crude oil tanker transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File Photo

Ukraine struck a Russian "shadow fleet" oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea with ​aerial drones for the first time, an official said on Friday, reflecting the growing intensity of Kyiv's attacks on Russian oil shipping.

The vessel was empty when it was struck by drones in neutral waters more than 2,000 kilometres (1,243 miles) from Ukraine, sustaining critical damage, the official at the SBU security service said in a written statement, Reuters reported.

The tanker's last visible position on Friday morning was given as off the coast of Crete sailing parallel to Libya's coast, MarineTraffic ship tracking data showed. The Ukrainian official, who declined to ‌be named, did ‌not say exactly where the tanker was located at the ‌time ⁠of ​the ‌attack and when it happened.

Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries throughout 2025, but has visibly widened its campaign in recent weeks, striking oil rigs in the Caspian Sea and claiming credit for sea-drone attacks on three tankers in the Black Sea.

The tankers are unregulated ships that Kyiv says are helping Moscow export large quantities of oil and fund its war in Ukraine despite Western sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir ⁠Putin, who ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has threatened to sever Ukraine's access to the ‌Black Sea in response to the attacks on tankers, which ‍he has derided as piracy.

There was ‍no fresh comment from Moscow on the latest attack.

The vessel was en route ‍to the Russian port of Ust Luga in the Baltic Sea from the Indian port of Sikka, MarineTraffic data showed.

India is a major consumer of Russian oil, although it has faced pressure from US President Donald Trump to curb its purchases to reduce the oil revenue that Ukraine says ​is fuelling Russia's full-scale war.

MULTI-STAGE MEASURES

The strike on the vessel is notable not only because it was further away in the Mediterranean but also because ⁠it used long-range aerial drones.

"This development reflects a stark expansion of Ukraine’s use of uncrewed aerial systems against maritime assets associated with Russia’s sanctioned oil export network," British maritime risk-management group Vanguard said.

The Ukrainian official did not say how the drones reached the ship, but said the operation involved "multi-stage" measures.

Earlier this year, the SBU, the vast security agency behind the attack, smuggled dozens of drones into Russia for an operation to destroy strategic bombers at air bases deep inside Russia.

There have also been a string of other unexplained blasts on tankers that have called at Russian ports since December 2024. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in them, but maritime security sources suspect Kyiv is behind them.

Earlier this week, two crew members of ‌the Valeriy Gorchakov Russian-flagged tanker were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don.