DALLAS: Two individuals have been sentenced to 70 and 80 years in prison in the United States for their roles in a case involving the sexual exploitation of a child, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice said in an official statement.

The convictions stem from charges including child sexual exploitation, the production and distribution of child pornography, and criminal conspiracy, following a federal court ruling

According to the FBI’s statement, Wisam Sharieff, 44, of Euless, Texas, who used the title of imam and operated as an online instructor specialising in Quran recitation, was sentenced to 960 months in prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay a $135,000 special assessment under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act. Sharieff pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiracy to engage in the sexual exploitation of children and multiple child pornography related offenses.

The statement further added that Sharieff’s co-defendant, Blake Miller Barakat, also known as Hamna, 50, of Shelby County, Alabama, was sentenced to 840 months in prison, also followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. 

Barakat was ordered to pay a $30,000 special assessment. The individual pleaded guilty in June 2025 to sexual exploitation of children as well as the possession and distribution of child pornography.

The FBI said Sharieff exploited a religious title to manipulate his online student, Barakat, promoting the false and deeply troubling belief that sexual gratification could bring an individual closer to God. 

Court documents cited in the press release state that in October 2024, the two individuals repeatedly viewed and shared adult pornography online before coercing a seven-year-old child to watch the videos. The child was then forced to engage in sexually explicit acts for the purpose of producing child pornography.

US Attorney Prim F Escalona described the crimes as among the most reprehensible offences against society, emphasising that federal authorities will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who target children. The FBI Birmingham Division reaffirmed its commitment to protecting children and holding offenders accountable.

The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice that coordinates federal, state, and local resources to combat the online sexual exploitation of children and to identify and assist victims.

• US Navy buildup near Iran raises regional tensions.
• Iran leadership in Tehran wants sanctions lifted.
• Says it will show flexibility on uranium enrichment.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington had held “very good talks” on Iran, after the two sides held an indirect dialogue in Oman that could avert an escalation of tensions.

“We likewise had very good talks on Iran, Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly,” Trump said to reporters on board Air Force One en route to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the weekend.

“We’re going to meet again early next week,” he added.

Asked how long he was willing to wait for a deal on Iran, Trump said, “Well, you have to get in position. We have plenty of time.”

Earlier, Iran’s top diplomat said that nuclear talks with the US mediated by Oman were off to a “good start” and set to continue, in remarks that could help allay concern that failure to reach a deal might nudge the Middle East closer to war.

But Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after the talks in the Omani capital Muscat, which involved him, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, that “any dialogue requires refraining from threats and pressure. (Tehran) only discusses its nuclear issue … We do not discuss any other issue with the US.”

While both sides have indicated readiness to revive diplomacy over Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West, Washington wanted to expand the talks to cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, support for armed groups around the region and “treatment of their own people,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, adding that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.

Iranian officials have repeatedly ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

Trump ratcheted up the pressure on Iran on Friday with an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from any country that “directly or indirectly” purchases goods from Iran, following through on a threat he made last month.

The White House has said the measure is intended to deter third countries from maintaining commercial ties with Iran, particularly in energy, metals and petrochemicals, sectors that remain key sources of revenue for the Iranian government.

Tehran open to discussing enrichment level: source

While Iran ruled out Washington’s demand for no enrichment on its soil, the diplomat who asked not to be named said Tehran showed openness to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment or alternative arrangements, including a potential regional consortium.

In return, Iran had several demands, such as “efficient and immediate sanctions relief, including banking and oil, and the moving of US military assets away from Iran.”

For Washington, carrying out enrichment – a possible pathway to nuclear bombs – inside Iran is a red line. Tehran has long denied any intent to weaponise nuclear fuel production.

However, the diplomat said, Tehran believed the US negotiators “seemed to understand Iran’s stance on the enrichment.”

Araqchi earlier told Iran’s state TV that “It was a good start to the negotiations.”

“And there is an understanding on continuing the talks. Coordination on how to proceed will be decided in the capitals,” Araqchi said. “If this process continues, I think we will reach a good framework for an understanding.”

Talks were ‘very serious’, says Oman

Mediator Badr al-Busaidi, Oman’s foreign minister, said the talks had been “very serious,” with results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington. The goal was to reconvene in due course.

Despite the talks, the United States announced on Friday it was sanctioning 15 entities and 14 shadow-fleet vessels connected to illicit trade in Iranian petroleum, petroleum products and petrochemical products, the latest US economic measures targeting Tehran and trade with it.

Iran’s leadership remains deeply worried that Trump may carry out his threats to strike Iran after a US naval buildup in the seas in the region.

Last June, the US struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in the final stages of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign. Tehran has since said it has halted uranium enrichment activity.

The naval buildup, which Trump has called a massive “armada,” has followed a bloody government crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran last month, heightening tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Trump has said “bad things” will probably happen if a deal cannot be reached, increasing pressure on the Islamic Republic in a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes.

Fears of conflict

World powers and regional states fear that a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.

Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighbouring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.

In a show of defiance, Iranian state TV said hours before the talks that “one of the country’s most advanced long-range ballistic missiles, the Khorramshahr-4,” had been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guard’s underground “missile cities.”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump triggered outrage on Friday after he posted a video depicting Barack Obama, the first Black president in American history, and his wife Michelle as monkeys.

A top Democrat called Trump “vile” while even a senior Republican senator said the video posted the president’s own Truth Social account was blatantly racist.

But the White House was unrepentant over Trump’s post, rejecting what it called “fake outrage” and saying the video was from an “internet meme.”

Near the end of the one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Republican Trump’s 2020 election loss, the Obamas are shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.

The song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background when the Obamas appear.

The video repeats false allegations that ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the 2020 election from Trump and hand victory to Joe Biden, who was Obama’s vice president at the time.

As of early Friday, the video had been liked several thousand times on the president’s social media platform.

“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP.

“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” added Leavitt.

There was no immediate reaction from the Obamas.

But the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, called Trump “vile, unhinged and malignant” and a “sick individual.”

“Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry,” Jeffries posted on X.

During negotiations to avoid a US government shutdown last year Trump posted a video of Jeffries, who is Black, wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero. Jeffries called the image racist.

There was one unusually strong expression of outrage from Trump’s own party.

Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator and a contender for the 2024 presidential nomination, called the video “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Scott said he was “praying it was fake” and called for Trump to remove it.