VIENNA: Austria is preparing to repatriate from Syria two young orphans of a female Daesh group supporter in the first such move for Vienna, a government spokesman said Monday.
The decision to hand over the boys aged one and three to their grandmother in Vienna was made after positive DNA results and a court granting her custody, according to foreign ministry spokesman Peter Guschelbauer.
“We have decided to bring back the two orphans, and preparations have started... It is the first repatriation of children from this region,” he told AFP, adding that the process could take several weeks.
The children are now in the crammed Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. Their Austrian mother, who went to join Daesh in 2014 when she was 15 years old, is believed to have died.
Guschelbauer said at least three other children could be repatriated later.
Last week, Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria handed over to Germany four children from Daesh families, all of them under 10 years old.
Another dozen children of alleged jihadist fighters have been repatriated from Iraq to Germany since March.
France and Belgium have also brought a handful of orphans home, while the United States last year repatriated a woman with her four children.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kosovo have repatriated dozens of women and children.
Daesh overran large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and proclaimed a “caliphate” there, but the jihadist group has since been ousted from those territories.
Austria to repatriate Daesh supporter’s children from Syria
Austria to repatriate Daesh supporter’s children from Syria
- The children are now in the crammed Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria
- Another dozen children of alleged jihadist fighters have been repatriated from Iraq to Germany since March.
Trump claims Iran working on missiles that could hit US
- Trump says his preference is diplomacy, but would never allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Iran is seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States and accused Tehran of working to rebuild a nuclear program that was targeted by American strikes last year.
The United States and Iran are engaged in high-stakes negotiations over Iran’s atomic program and other issues including missiles, with Trump saying he prefers diplomacy but is willing to use force if talks fail.
“They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” Trump said during his State of the Union address.
In 2025, the US Defense Intelligence Agency said Iran could potentially develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability,” but did not say if it had made such a decision.
Tehran currently possesses short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with ranges that top out at about 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers), according to the US Congressional Research Service.
The continental United States is more than 6,000 miles from Iran’s western tip.
Washington and Tehran have concluded two rounds of talks aimed at reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program to replace the agreement that Trump tore up during his first term in office.
‘Preference’ is diplomacy
The United States has repeatedly called for zero uranium enrichment by Iran but has also sought to address its ballistic missile program and support for armed groups in the region — demands Iran has rejected.
Iran has also repeatedly rejected that it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last year, claiming afterward that Tehran’s atomic program was obliterated.
On Tuesday, he said Iran wants “to start all over again,” and that it is “at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions.”
Trump has sent a massive US military force to the Middle East, deploying two aircraft carriers as well as more than a dozen other ships, a large number of warplanes and other assets to the region.
He has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if negotiations fail to reach a new agreement. Talks with Tehran are currently set to continue on Thursday.
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
The US president’s speech primarily focused on domestic issues, making no mention at all of China — Washington’s primary military and economic rival — and only briefly referring to Russia.
Trump said he was working to end the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and repeated his inaccurate claim that he had brought eight other wars to an end since returning to office in January 2025.
He also hailed NATO’s decision to spend five percent of gross domestic product on defense — a move made under heavy pressure from Trump and his administration.
