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Trump Hails Release of US Citizen Held in Iran as 'Goodwill' Gesture

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington, as he signs executive orders. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington, as he signs executive orders. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Trump Hails Release of US Citizen Held in Iran as 'Goodwill' Gesture

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington, as he signs executive orders. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington, as he signs executive orders. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald ‌Trump has called the release of a US citizen held in Iran a "gesture of goodwill", even as conflict raged for a fifth night across the Middle East.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that an American who was "wrongfully detained" under the Biden administration in 2024 had been allowed to leave Iran, Reuters reported.

"She is now safely outside of Iran, and ‌in good ‌condition. The United States of America ‌appreciates ⁠this gesture of Goodwill ⁠by Iran," Trump wrote.

Human rights attorney Jared Genser identified the American as Dena Karari.

"Dena is now safe and traveling back to the United States," Genser wrote on X, thanking Trump for his efforts to free her.

Iran has ⁠neither confirmed nor denied that ‌Karari has been released.

The ‌release came despite US military strikes across Iran aimed at ‌reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz ‌shipping lane, and amid escalating threats from Trump that he will bomb Iran's power plants, bridges and energy infrastructure.

Three US officials told Reuters that US ‌strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the ⁠US ⁠would want to destroy before executing more complex operations.

Iran has hit back with what it said were strikes targeting US bases in Kuwait and Jordan.

According to the New York Times, Karari, 53, is a resident of California. She had her passport seized as she visited relatives in the southwestern city of Shiraz in December 2024.

She was not detained, but was interrogated on various occasions by the authorities, the newspaper said, citing her lawyer, Genser.

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World

French ISIS Extremist Gets 30 Years for Syria Crimes

French police gather outside a local police station in Paris, France, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 
French police gather outside a local police station in Paris, France, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 
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French ISIS Extremist Gets 30 Years for Syria Crimes

French police gather outside a local police station in Paris, France, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 
French police gather outside a local police station in Paris, France, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 

A French court on Tuesday, September 22, sentenced a former ISIS member in Syria, Othman Garrido, to 30 years' imprisonment for murders committed as part of an organized group.

Garrido, a 32-year-old French citizen, was convicted by a special court in Paris at the end of a week-long trial.

He was convicted over a September 2015 public execution in Syria of two Iranians, but was acquitted on another charge of being their executioner. His sentence came with a 20-year non-parole period.

ISIS had attempted in 2014 to create what it called a “caliphate” in Syria, but it ended up being defeated in 2019 by a US-led international coalition.

Garrido, during his trial, had portrayed himself as forced to follow ISIS or risk death himself.

Some 1,500 French nationals had transited through Iraq and Syria to join ISIS in the 2010s.

World

Guterres Calls on China, US to Establish AI Dialogue

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)  
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)  
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Guterres Calls on China, US to Establish AI Dialogue

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)  
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)  

UN chief Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for AI superpowers, the United States and China, to start a dialogue on the fast-moving technology's future, as calls grow to rein in the sector’s rapid development amid concerns about its potential impact on humanity.

“Governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue, transparency, trust and cooperation,” Guterres said at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“At a pivotal moment during the Cold War, strategic rivals came to recognize the need to manage shared existential risks,” he noted.

China and the US are currently discussing creating a communication channel for AI concerns in anticipation of a Washington summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

The talks come as both powers confront rising fears that increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems could wipe out humanity, offering a rare incentive for cooperation despite an intensifying race for technological supremacy.

Power Has Polarized the World

In his final address to the annual high-level gathering at the UN General Assembly, Guterres urged leaders to avoid what he called “the great fracture – the division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems.”

He rebuked might-makes-right thinking, telling superpowers to recognize “that their power isn’t so super” — that “military power alone cannot secure peace” and that “no power can solve today’s challenges alone,” according to AP.

The future will be shaped by how the world addresses “four great tests of power” – power over war and peace, power fueling climate chaos, power unleashed by artificial intelligence and “power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality,” he said

The UN Chief said geopolitical divides have deepened, inequalities have intensified and trust has frayed.

“The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality. And artificial intelligence (AI) moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it,” he noted.

He said that on January 1, when he is no longer Secretary-General, he will keep championing the conviction that peace is possible and that human dignity is universal.

Guterres’ speech opened the main portion of the world's biggest diplomatic meeting of the year. Leaders from the UN's 193 member countries address each other and the international community and air their hopes, plans and grievances.

AI is a major theme at this year's UN General Assembly. Ahead of the week of meetings and speeches in New York, leaders of more than 20 countries urged binding safety measures for advanced artificial intelligence, warning that the technology's development could outpace the ability to control it.

China and the United States were not signatories.

Trump has come out strongly against AI safety measures, vowing on Saturday not to allow the “destruction” of the AI industry over what he calls unjustified fears.

China's President Xi Jinping in July said AI should not be dominated by a single country and urged international cooperation on its development.

World

Iranian President Pezeshkian Arrives in New York

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian waves before departing for New York, at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2026. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian waves before departing for New York, at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2026. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
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Iranian President Pezeshkian Arrives in New York

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian waves before departing for New York, at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2026. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian waves before departing for New York, at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2026. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York where he is expected to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

State broadcaster IRIB posted a video clip of Pezeshkian exiting a plane with a caption saying that the Iranian president has arrived at a New York airport, AFP reported.

This is the first time that a leader whose country is at war with the United States sets foot on American soil to address a UN gathering, analysts say.