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Iran Demands $170M From Owner of Seized Israel-linked Ship

Iranian flag (Reuters)
Iranian flag (Reuters)
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Iran Demands $170M From Owner of Seized Israel-linked Ship

Iranian flag (Reuters)
Iranian flag (Reuters)

Iran has demanded a $170 million fine from the owner of a cargo ship that it seized in last year and accused of having ties to Israel, a judicial official said Tuesday.

The Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, intercepted the MSC Aries in April of 2024 and detained its 25 international crew members.

At the time, the official IRNA news agency said the Portuguese-flagged vessel was "managed by Zodiac, which belongs to the Zionist capitalist Eyal Ofer".

On Tuesday, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said charges had been filed and the case was before the courts, though no date had been set for a trial.

"A fine of $170 million has been demanded against its owner, of Israeli origin, accused of financing terrorism," Jahangir said.

MSC representatives underlined that Zodiac is a British company headquartered in London and the vessel was "chartered by MSC", they said in a statement at the time of the seizure.

At the time, the United States denounced the seizure of the ship as an act of piracy and called for its crew to be released.

Israel's foreign minister called on the European Union to designate the Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organization" in response.

At least some of the crew were later freed.

Jahangir said the ship, excluding its cargo, was valued at $170 million and claimed that Ofer -- an Israeli billionaire and shipping magnate -- was an "influential figure" within the Israeli government.

The ship's seizure came months into the war in Gaza, where Israel was fighting Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel sparked the conflict.

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Iran Hangs Man Accused of Passing info to CIA, Mossad

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Hangs Man Accused of Passing info to CIA, Mossad

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran said Monday it had hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel and the United States, the latest in a wave of executions during the war with the two foes.

"Erfan Shakourzadeh... was hanged for collaborating with the US intelligence service and the Mossad spy service," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

It did not specify when he was executed or when he was arrested, but said he worked at one of Iran's "scientific organizations active in the satellite field".

Iran has long faced Western accusations that its satellite program is being used to advance ballistic missile capabilities, reported AFP.

Mizan said Shakourzadeh had "knowingly and willingly" passed classified information to the CIA and Mossad.

Iran is the world's second-most prolific executioner, according to rights groups.

Norway-based group Iran Human Rights says the Iranian republic executed at least 1,500 people last year, one of the highest numbers worldwide.

Iran has been at war with Israel and the United States since late February, with a ceasefire in place since April 8.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has ramped up executions, particularly in cases involving alleged espionage or security-related charges.

Last Monday, Tehran executed three men convicted of involvement in anti-government protests that rocked the country in December and January.

World

Australia to Quarantine Six People from Hantavirus Ship

Passengers are disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Passengers are disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Australia to Quarantine Six People from Hantavirus Ship

Passengers are disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Passengers are disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Australia will place six people from a cruise ship struck with the rat-borne hantavirus in a purpose-built quarantine facility north of Perth for at least three weeks, the government said Monday.

The passengers -- four Australian citizens, one permanent resident in Australia and a New Zealander -- are to be kept at Western Australia's 500-bed Bullsbrook center, originally built for the Covid-19 pandemic, said AFP.

Repatriation flights from Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands are still being finalized in a "complex" operation, Health Minister Mark Butler told a news conference.

Australia will list the hantavirus disease under the country's biosecurity legislation, enabling the government to make an order placing the passengers in quarantine, he said.

The six passengers -- none of whom have shown hantavirus symptoms -- will land at an airforce base by the quarantine facility, the minister said.

"Those six people will be transferred immediately to that quarantine facility directly next door to the RAAF base," Butler said.

Butler said the incubation period for the virus was 42 days, and arrangements after the initial three weeks' quarantine had yet to be decided.

Some other countries were only quarantining people from the ship for a few days before telling them to isolate at home, the minister said.

But Australia was implementing a "stronger response" because the long flight from Tenerife in a relatively small plane posed a greater risk of transmission.

World

Kallas: EU Expected to Agree Long-stalled Sanctions on Israeli Settlers

A view of the new Jewish settlers’ outpost erected on the outskirts of the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
A view of the new Jewish settlers’ outpost erected on the outskirts of the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
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Kallas: EU Expected to Agree Long-stalled Sanctions on Israeli Settlers

A view of the new Jewish settlers’ outpost erected on the outskirts of the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
A view of the new Jewish settlers’ outpost erected on the outskirts of the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

The European Union was expected Monday to agree new sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians, the bloc's top diplomat said, as a change of government in Hungary ends months of blockage.

"I expect political agreement on the sanctions on violent settlers, hopefully we will get there," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

The move in response to rising violence and settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had been stalled by former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.

But nationalist leader and Israel ally's ouster by rival Peter Magyar now appears to have paved the way for the veto to be lifted.

EU officials said seven settlers or settler organizations were set to be blacklisted. The bloc was also set to sanction representatives from Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The occupied West Bank has been gripped by almost daily violence since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, involving both Israeli troops and settlers.

There has been a surge in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said.

While the EU is moving ahead with the sanctions on Israeli settlers, there remains no consensus among the bloc's member states to take further steps against Israel such as curbing trade ties.