International

The US announces new sanctions against Iran for the attack on Israel

U.S. President Joe Biden announced new sanctions against Iran, directed against its Revolutionary Guard and the Ministry of Defense, for the attack on Israel.

Through a statement signed by the spokesman of the State Department, Matthew Miller, the US Government explained that it is also targeting the unmanned aerial vehicle program, the steel industry and the automobile companies of Iran.

“In response to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, the United States is taking radical measures against several actors involved in Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle program, suppliers and customers of one of Iran’s largest steel producers and Iranian automotive companies with connections to the United States,” the statement said.

The designated entities are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Defense and Logistics of the Armed Forces (MODAFL).

In total, the Treasury Department imposes sanctions on 16 people and two entities that allow the production and testing of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the proliferation of actors working on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, its unmanned aerial production division, Kimia Part Sivan Company, and other Iranian manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicle engines.

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The Treasury also sanctions five companies that supply component materials for steel production to the Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC) of Iran, an entity sanctioned by the United States, or that buy finished steel products from the KSC.

In addition, the Treasury sanctions the Iranian car manufacturer Bahman Group and three of its subsidiaries, which have continued to materially support the IRGC and other sanctioned entities.

Finally, the Department of Commerce imposes new controls to restrict Iran’s access to technologies such as basic commercial-grade microelectronics.

“We will continue to work with our allies and partners to use the full range of tools at our disposal to address income flows and disrupt the networks that support Iran’s reckless proliferation of weapons that destabilize the Middle East and beyond,” Miller said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last Tuesday that the United States and its partners were coordinating a new round of sanctions against Iran for the attack on Israel, the first launched by Tehran directly against Israeli territory.

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Several countries had previously designated the Revolutionary Guard, a branch of the Armed Forces of Iran created after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, as a terrorist group.

In 2019, the United States included the Revolutionary Guard on the blacklist of terrorist groups, while the Government of Canada already said in January of this year that it was studying ways to include the Revolutionary Guard on its list of terrorist organizations.

International

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

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In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.