Iran | Pakistan

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir reached Tehran on Wednesday and held a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other officials, according to a post on the Iranian government’s X account. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) described the visit as part of “ongoing mediation efforts” for de-escalation between Iran and the US. ISPR said that CDF Munir had arrived in the Iranian capital alongside a formal delegation and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. Later, Araghchi posted on X: “Delighted to welcome Field Marshal Munir to Iran. Expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s gracious hosting of the dialogue, emphasising that it reflects our deep and great bilateral relationship. Our commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region remains strong—and shared.” The development came hours after Iran said that exchanges with the United States via Pakistan had continued following negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend that yielded no result. “Since Sunday, w...

Pakistan is considering buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the spot market to offset supply disruptions caused by the Iran war, but would favour government-to-government deals to avoid having to pay steep premiums, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has told Reuters. Qatar’s force majeure forced Pakistan to make costly spot purchases or find alternative fuels ahead of summer demand. Spot LNG cargoes have surged to $20 to $30 per mmBtu amid the Middle East conflict, Malik says, adding that purchases would depend on whether prices are acceptable to the power sector, including under existing government-to-government arrangements with Azerbaijan’s Socar. Pakistan has also been routing some crude supplies via Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, with Malik saying insurance costs on that route were lower than routes crossing or near Hormuz. Pakistan imports nearly all of its oil, much of it via the Strait of Hormuz, and remains exposed to supply shocks despite cutting its LNG re...

US President Donald Trump, whose war and immigration policies have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that “someone please tell Pope Leo” about the killings of protesters by Iran and that “for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.” The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. Iran does not have nuclear weapons while the US does. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons. While Western countries have long believed that Iran wants a nuclear bomb — or at least the ability to make one very quickly — Tehran has always denied that, citing its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Trump’s comments come after Pope Leo warned earlier in the day of the risk of democra...

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday appreciated the untiring efforts by Pakistan in hosting a dialogue between the United States and Iran, in a meeting held with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a stinging criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his main European allies, over her unwillingness to join the Iran war. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The interview was published the day after Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, after the pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East. Trump told Corriere that it was she who was “unacceptable”, alleging she did not care if Iran had a nuclear weapon, adding that she did not want Italy to be involved in the war, which began with Israeli-US attacks on Iran, even though it gets much of its oil from the region. Meloni, Italy’s far-right leader since October 2022, has been one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe and often seeks to act as a mediator between diverging US and European views. Meloni’s allies and political opponents were swift to offer th...

On Andy Corriher’s farm in North Carolina, planting and preparations are underway for his corn and soybean crops — but fertiliser costs have surged on war in the Middle East, and orders he placed weeks ago have yet to arrive. The 47-year-old is among US farmers facing a double whammy of soaring fertiliser and diesel prices after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered Tehran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for such shipments. “This time of year is when the majority of fertiliser is put out in this country,” Corriher told AFP. “We got hit at the worst possible time, because we’re trying to buy fertiliser when it skyrockets and when the supply also gets cut.” Andy Corriher examines his wheat crop at his farm in China Grove, North Carolina, on April 10, 2026. — AFP The cost hikes strike at a major support base for US President Donald Trump, who won 78 per cent of the 2024 vote in farming-dependent counties, said news service Investigate Midwest. Trump blamed “price gouging from the fertilise...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urged the United States and Iran to remain committed to a ceasefire after both countries ended historic face-to-face talks without an agreement on Sunday. “It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to the ceasefire,” Dar said in a press conference following the conclusion of the 21-hour marathon talks. Dar expressed Pakistan’s readiness to continue to play its role to “facilitate engagement and dialogue” between the US and Iran. He hoped that both sides would “continue with the positive spirit to achieve durable peace and prosperity for the entire region and beyond”. The foreign minister also thanked Iran and the US for following through on the ceasefire call by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and accepting the invitation for the Islamabad Talks. Dar stated that he, along with Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, “helped mediate several rounds of intense and constructive negotiations between...

After their face-to-face talks yielded no agreement, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday said it was now time for the United States to decide whether it can “earn” Tehran’s trust. In a post on X, written in Persian, Ghalibaf said: “America has understood our logic and principles, and now it’s time for it to decide whether it can earn our trust or not?” Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation, recalled that before the negotiations, he “emphasised that we have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side”. “My colleagues on the Iranian delegation Minaab168 raised forward-looking initiatives, but the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations,” he added. The Iranian parliament speaker went on to state: “We certainly consider diplomacy of authority to be another method, alongside military struggle, for achieving the rights of the Iranian people, ...

US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the US had not been able to reach an agreement with Iran, after 21 hours of “substantive discussions” under the umbrella of the “Islamabad Talks” which commenced on Saturday afternoon. He was addressing a press conference in Islamabad after the direct talks between delegations from the two countries, mediated by Pakistan, stretched into a second day on Sunday. “We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we have had a number of substantive discussions, that’s the good news,” said Vance. “The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” he added. “We have made very clear what our red lines are, what things we are willing to accommodate them on and what things we are not willing to accommodate them on,” said the US vice president, adding that the Iranian delegation had “chosen not to accept our terms”. Vance began the press conference by appreciating Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, sayi...

Iran denies US claim of 'clearing out' Strait of Hormuz

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Saturday said Tehran was prepared to reach an agreement with Washington, provided it offered what he termed a “genuine” deal and recognised Iran’s rights.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Pakistan on Saturday to participate in the Islamabad Talks with Iran, as diplomatic efforts intensify to resolve the ongoing regional conflict.

WASHINGTON: As indirect diplomacy between the United States and Iran converges on Islamabad in the coming hours, the messaging from Washington has settled into a carefully managed tone of cautious optimism—tempered by clear acknowledgment that the process remains fragile. US President Donald Trump, speaking briefly before boarding Air Force One on Friday evening, projected guarded confidence in the American negotiating team while avoiding any suggestion that outcomes were pre-determined. “We’ll see how it turns out. So it’s JD and Steve and Jared. We have a good team, and they meet tomorrow. We’ll see how it all works out,” he said, referring to the delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and senior aides. At the same time, Trump framed the talks in explicitly strategic and transactional terms, suggesting that economic and geopolitical interests tied to regional chokepoints would ultimately shape outcomes. “The strait will open up. If we just left the strait, …(it) is going to open,” he said, adding that th...

US Vice President JD Vance has departed for Islamabad to lead the American delegation in the upcoming Iran–US negotiations being hosted under the mediation of Pakistan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and a former foreign minister, on Friday said that the lifting of sanctions on Iran would not only benefit Pakistan but also the wider global community.

Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in his latest written message said that the Islamic republic does not want war with the United States and Israel, but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported on Thursday. “We did not seek war and we do not want it,” he said in the message read out on state TV, coinciding with 40 days since his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was assassinated on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. “But we will not renounce our legitimate rights under any circumstances, and in this respect, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole,” he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon where Israel has been carrying out strikes that it says target Hezbollah. Iran this week agreed to a two-week ceasefire with the United States that could lead to peace negotiations after threats of annihilation from US President Donald Trump. Khamenei told Iranians that they must “not imagine that taking to the streets is no longer necessary” despite the an...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s mediation that helped bring about a temporary US–Iran ceasefire has drawn global attention, with Islamabad’s envoy to Washington reiterating that the breakthrough was the result of “an intense diplomatic effort that was in progress over the past few weeks.” In an interview with CNN, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said Islamabad’s role was underpinned by trust from all sides, careful consultations, and a commitment to discretion. The interview on Wednesday came as Washington announced dispatching a high‑level negotiating team led by Vice President J.D. Vance to Islamabad to begin formal talks on ending hostilities following the ceasefire announced early Wednesday. China’s quiet but crucial role While Ambassador Sheikh did not map out specific country roles in detail, he acknowledged Beijing’s constructive stance. “China, from the very start, has also been mentioning the exercise of restraint and affording space for diplomacy to both sides,” he told CNN — a comment th...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday assured US Ambassador to Pakistan Natalie Baker of foolproof security for all foreign dignitaries ahead of the US-Iran talks scheduled in Islamabad this week. Pakistan is set to host in-person talks between the US and Iran on Saturday after a two-week ceasefire was announced between the two countries, bringing a pause to the hostilities which broke out on February 28. In a meeting with the US envoy, Naqvi assured her of the security arrangements taken ahead of the talks and stated that the US Vice President JD Vance, US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner were “our special guests,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior. “A comprehensive plan has been prepared to provide foolproof security to all foreign guests in every respect,” the minister was quoted as saying. The US envoy appreciated Pakistan’s diplomatic role during the meeting. Meanwhile, the Islamabad Police, in a traffic advisory posted on X, said diversions will be...

High-level delegations from the United States and Iran are scheduled to arrive in the federal capital on Friday for key diplomatic engagements aimed at facilitating dialogue between the two countries.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, terming it a significant diplomatic achievement and crediting Pakistan’s leadership for its role in promoting global peace.