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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 31 March 2023
Top U.N. court rejects Iranian bid to free assets frozen by U.S.

By MIKE CORDER told journalists.
Associated Press It said Tehran would use “all
THE HAGUE, Netherlands diplomatic, legal and judi-
(AP) — The United Nations’ ciary means” to pursue its
top court on Thursday re- demands.
jected Tehran’s legal bid At hearings last year, Iran
to free up some $2 billion in cast the asset freeze as an
Iranian central bank assets attempt to destabilize the
frozen by U.S. authorities to Tehran government and
be paid in compensation a violation of international
to victims of a 1983 bomb- law. Iran took its claim to
ing in Lebanon and other the world court in 2016 af-
attacks linked to Iran. ter the U.S. Supreme Court
In a 10-5 majority ruling, ruled that money belong-
the International Court of ing to Iran’s central bank
Justice said it did not have could be used as compen-
jurisdiction to rule on the sation for the 241 American
Iranian claim linked to the troops who died in the 1983
central Markazi Bank. bombing, which was be-
The world court’s vice- lieved to be linked to Teh-
president, Kirill Gevorgian, ran.
said the majority “upholds Iran’s agent Tavakol Habibzadeh, center, and delegation members wait for judges to enter the After the bombing of the a
the objection to jurisdic- International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court, which issued its judgment in a dispute U.S. military base in Leba-
tion raised by the United between Iran and the United States over frozen Iranian state bank accounts worth some $2 billion, non, a second blast nearby
States of America relating in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, March 30, 2023. killed 58 French soldiers.
to the claims of the Islamic Associated Press Iran has denied involve-
Republic of Iran” related to sation. If they fail to reach account in New York. The In Washington, Deputy ment, but a U.S. District
the bank. In a complex, 67- a number, they will have to court said that it did not State Department spokes- Court judge found Tehran
page judgment, the world return to the Hague-based have jurisdiction based on man Vedant Patel said that responsible in 2003. The
court also found that some court for a ruling. the 1955 Treaty of Amity while the U.S. was disap- judge’s ruling said Iran’s
other U.S. moves to seize But the largest part of the because the protections pointed with some aspects ambassador to Syria at the
assets of Iran and Iranians in case focused on Bank it offers do not extend to of the ruling it was pleased time called “a member of
the United States breached Markazi, and its frozen as- central banks. on the whole. the Iranian Revolutionary
a 1955 treaty between the sets of $1.75 billion in bonds, Both countries largely “Broadly we believe that Guard and instructed him
countries and said they plus accumulated interest, voiced satisfaction at Thurs- today’s decision is a major to instigate the Marine bar-
should negotiate compen- that are held in a Citibank day’s decision. blow to Iran’s case,” Patel racks bombing.”q

Report: Chinese state-sponsored hacking group highly active

By DAVID RISING strategic interest to China’s BARIUM that it is thought China’s Foreign Ministry de- active” in a wide range of
Associated Press government and security they are either the same nied the accusations, say- countries and industries,
BANGKOK (AP) — A Chi- services, a private Ameri- or very closely affiliated, ing, “This company has pro- “targeting aviation, auto-
nese hacking group that is can cybersecurity firm said said Jon Condra, director duced false information on motive, education, govern-
likely state-sponsored and in a new report Thursday. of strategic and persistent so-called ‘Chinese hacker ment, media, information
has been linked previously The hacking group, which threats for Insikt Group, the attacks’ more than once in technology and religious
to attacks on U.S. state the report calls RedGolf, threat research division of the past. organizations.”
government computers is shares such close overlap Massachusetts-based cy- Their relevant actions are Insikt Group did not identify
still “highly active” and is with groups tracked by oth- bersecurity company Re- groundless accusations, far specific victims of RedGolf,
focusing on a broad range er security companies un- corded Future. fetched, and lack profes- but said it was able to track
of targets that may be of der the names APT41 and Following up on previous sionalism.” scanning and exploitation
reports of APT41 and BARI- Chinese authorities have attempts targeting differ-
UM activities and monitor- consistently denied any ent sectors with a version
ing the targets that were form of state-sponsored of the KEYPLUG backdoor
attacked, Insikt Group said hacking, instead saying malware also used by
it had identified a cluster of China itself is a major target APT41.
domains and infrastructure of cyberattacks. Insikt said it had identified
“highly likely used across APT41 was implicated in a several other malicious
multiple campaigns by 2020 U.S. Justice Depart- tools used by RedGolf in
RedGolf” over the past two ment indictment that ac- addition to KEYPLUG, “all of
years. cused Chinese hackers of which are commonly used
“We believe this activity is targeting more than 100 by many Chinese state-
likely being conducted for companies and institutions sponsored threat groups.”
intelligence purposes rath- in the U.S. and abroad, in- In 2022, the cybersecu-
er than financial gain due cluding social media and rity firm Mandiant reported
to the overlaps with previ- video game companies, that APT41 was respon-
ously reported cyberespio- universities and telecom- sible for breaches of the
nage campaigns,” Condra munications providers. networks of at least six U.S.
The flags of the U.S. and Chinese are displayed together on top said in an emailed response In its analysis, Insikt Group state governments, also us-
of a trishaw in Beijing on Sept. 16, 2018. to questions from The Asso- said it found evidence that ing KEYPLUG.q
Associated Press ciated Press. RedGolf “remains highly