Day: March 12, 2023

Demonstrations were held in the Greek capital Athens and Thessaloniki on Sunday for those who lost their lives in the train accident in Greece last week.

Thousands of people gathered in Syntagma Square in Athens and marched toward the Greek railway OSE office in Athens.

The protesters, including trade unions and student organizations, demanded that those responsible for the incident be arrested.

Police threw tear gas shells at protesters as clashes erupted outside the OSE office.

Thousands of protesters marching in Thessaloniki demanded that those responsible for the crash be arrested.

Last week on Tuesday night, a passenger train collided with a freight train around the town of Tempi in the northern Larissa province.

The official death toll stands at 57, including many university students and nine traincrew members.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Iran has reached an agreement with the United States to swap prisoners, according to the country's foreign minister on Sunday.

Speaking to the state broadcaster, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the deal was clinched recently between the two sides, ending year-long efforts marked by multiple interruptions.

"Regarding the issue of the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the US, we have reached an agreement in recent days,' he said.

'If everything goes well' on the American side, the swap will happen 'in a short period', he added.

The top diplomat said 'everything is ready' on the Iranian side but the American side is currently engaged in a 'final technical review' to go ahead with the swap of prisoners.

A document on the swap, he noted, was 'indirectly signed and approved' by the two countries in March last year, but the 'basis of its implementation' has been prepared now.

The issue of prisoners has been one of the key sticking points in Vienna nuclear talks, with Tehran repeatedly asking Washington to not tie the issue with the nuclear deal.

In February 2022, Iran's foreign minister said Tehran was ready for an immediate prisoner swap but alleged that Washington 'ruined the deal', calling it a 'humanitarian' issue.

His remarks came after US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley in a tweet linked the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal to the exchange of prisoners between the two sides.

The Biden administration has repeatedly called for the release of dual nationals detained in Iran over spying charges, including Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.

Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman who has been jailed in Iran since 2015. Shargi, also an Iranian-American businessman, has been in Iranian jail since 2018. Tahbaz, an Iranian-American environmentalist who also holds a British passport, was jailed in early 2018.

Iran, for its part, has also demanded the release of dozens of its nationals imprisoned in the US, including some Iranian-American dual nationals, mainly for bypassing US sanctions.

In October last year, the two sides said they held "intensive talks" mediated by a regional country regarding the prisoner swap and release of Iran's frozen assets in South Korea.

It came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a Twitter post said his country "will never stop working until all US nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world are home".

Last month, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said the deal was on the verge of being clinched through intermediaries at an unannounced time, 'but the US showed bad faith'.

His remarks followed a report by NBC News that said the two sides were holding indirect talks to seal the much-delayed deal, with Qatar and the UK acting as intermediaries.

While the prisoners' swap deal has finally made headway, there has been no comment so far on whether Iran's assets frozen abroad, including in South Korea, would be released.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Moldova's national police on Sunday announced it has detained 54 people during protests organized by the pro-Russian Shor party in the capital Chisinau.

'54 participants in the protest, including 21 minors, with questionable behavior and prohibited items in their possession, were taken to the Inspectorate for identification and documentation,' the Moldovan General Police Inspectorate said on Telegram.

The police also reported four bomb alerts in the capital, describing them as 'an ongoing part of destabilization measures' in Moldova.

Another statement by the police also noted that protesters are ignoring the law, adding that protesters are not obeying police instructions and are aggressive with law enforcement officers.

'We ask for appropriate and non-violent behavior, including in relation to the police,' the statement said.

The Moldovan General Police Inspectorate on Saturday said it had information on a planned protest to 'organize actions of destabilization and mass disorder.'

'We ask the organizers and participants to obey the legal requirements and not admit actions that would endanger the life and health of people, as well as the security of the state,' it declared, noting that traffic in certain streets would be partially blocked.

Tensions between Moldova and Russia rose when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia intends to 'undermine the political situation in Moldova' last month, in response to which Moldovan President Maia Sandu said state institutions 'confirmed' Moscow's plans.

Russia has rejected the claims, saying the "true goal" of Kyiv, which "launched disinformation about the 'Russian plan to destabilize Moldova,'" is to engage Chisinau in a tough confrontation with Moscow.

Separately, Moscow said that Ukraine is preparing an "armed provocation" against Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway region internationally recognized as part of Moldova but currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Source: Anadolu Agency