Iranian | Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed concern over the violation of international norms and the targeting of heads of state/government following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a post on X, the premier said, “The government and the people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.” He further said, “Pakistan also expresses concern over the violation of the norms of international law. It is an age-old convention that the heads of state/government should not be targeted.” The premier prayed for the Iranian supreme leader and for strength for the people of the country to bear “this irreparable loss”. Separately, President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed profound sorrow over the martyrdom of the Iranian supreme leader and other members of Iran’s senior leadership, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat. “The pre...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi over the phone once again on Wednesday, the Foreign Office (FO) said. According to a post by the FO on social media, the two leaders “discussed regional developments and underscored the importance of dialogue and diplomacy”. They agreed to continue close engagement and coordination, the statement added. The two foreign ministers have engaged in multiple phone calls since the start of the new year. On January 29, in a phone call, Dar expressed concern over the evolving regional situation. Alongside that call, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also spoke with Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian on the same day, with the two leaders exchanging views on the “evolving regional situation”. Dar and Araghchi had also already spoken the weekend prior, when he received a call from the Iranian minister while on a visit to Dubai. Dar had expressed his hope for peace and stability in Iran in another phone call with the Iranian foreign...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate telephone conversations with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts on Tuesday to discuss regional and international developments, the Foreign Office said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthening engagement with Iran in a meeting with the Iranian ambassador, Raza Amiri Moghaddam, in Islamabad on Saturday. Ambassador Moghaddam conveyed condolences over yesterday’s tragic suicide bombing at an imambargah in Islamabad, in which over 30 people were killed, the FO said in a post on X. Dar “strongly condemned the terrorist attack, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm resolve to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”, the FO said. The Iranian envoy also briefed Dar on progress achieved through various bilateral institutional mechanisms to enhance cooperation across diverse areas. The foreign minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthening engagement with Iran in key priority sectors of mutual interest, the FO added. Pakistan and Iran share close ties, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif having spoken with Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian last week on the “evolving re...

The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, it said. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an American F-35 fighter jet, it said. “An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military’s Central Command. No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he added. The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading toward Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached. The Lincoln carrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military buildup in the Middle East following a crackdown against anti-government dem...

At least one person was killed and 14 were injured in an explosion in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, a local official told Iranian news agencies, but the cause of the blast was not known. State television said the explosion occurred at an eight-storey building, “destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops” in the area of Moallem Boulevard in the city. Rescue and firefighting teams were on site to provide assistance, it added. Local fire chief Mohammad Amin Lyaghat said that the explosion was caused by a gas leak. “The initial cause of the building accident in Bandar Abbas was a gas leak and buildup, leading to an explosion. This is the initial theory,” said, in comments broadcast on state television. The official IRNA news agency quoted the Director General of Crisis Management in Hormozgan province, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, as saying, “Those injured in the incident are being transferred to hospital by emergency responders.” Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was not inv...

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday ordered security forces not to crack down on economic protests, drawing a distinction between peaceful demonstrators and armed “rioters”. Pezeshkian’s statement comes as Iranian cities continue to see a wave of protests against economic hardship triggered by price rises and currency collapse. Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) claimed on Tuesday at least 27 protesters have been killed during the demonstrations that kicked off with a shopkeeper’s strike in Tehran on December 28. Iranian media outlets, relaying official announcements, have reported 13 deaths, including members of the security forces and a policeman who was shot dead on Tuesday. In a video released by the news agency Mehr after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Iran Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Pezeshkian had “ordered that no security measures be taken against the demonstrators”. “Those who carry firearms, knives and machetes and who attack police stations and military sites ar...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephonic conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Office confirmed.

TEHRAN: Iranian for­ces killed six militants in a raid in the restive southeast, saying they were members of a “terrorist” group linked to Israel. “During an intense exchange of fire with terrorists in Sistan-Baluch­istan province, six assailants were killed and two others arrested,” official news agency IRNA said, citing a statement from the intelligence services. Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afg­hanistan, has long been a flashpoint for clashes bet­ween security forces and armed groups. The news agency said there were “documents” indicating “the Zionist nature” of the group targeted in the latest raid, adding that its members had planned to attack a “vital” facility in Iran’s east, without elaborating. The report said that “the main operation team” was composed of “seven non-Iranian terrorists”, but did not specify their nationality. Two intelligence agents and a police officer were wounded in the gunfight. Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025

The Foreign Office on Friday confirmed that Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian will pay a state visit to Pakistan over the weekend. Iran’s IRNA news agency had reported on Wednesday that the Iranian president’s political adviser, Mehdi Sanai, had said Pezeshkian was due to visit Pakistan on Saturday for a two-day trip with discussions with “cultural and commercial elites” on the agenda. In a statement today, the FO confirmed the development, saying the Iranian president “will pay a state visit to Pakistan on August 2-3, 2025” at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s invitation. Dr Pezeshkian will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, senior ministers and other high-ranking officials. The FO said Dr Pezeshkian will meet President Zardari and also hold delegation-level talks with PM Shehbaz. “This marks Dr Pezeshkian’s first official visit to Pakistan as president of Iran. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last visited Iran on May 26, 202...

The Iranian president’s political adviser said on Wednesday that Dr Masoud Pezeshkian was due to visit Pakistan on August 2 (Saturday) for a two-day trip, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported. Pezeshkian will be the second Iranian president to visit Pakistan in as many years. The visit was initially planned for the last week of July. In April 2024, Ebrahim Raisi undertook a three-day official visit to Pakistan. During the trip — which took place a month before Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash — the foreign dignitary also visited Lahore and Karachi. In a post on X, Political Adviser to the Iranian President Mehdi Sanai said Dr Pezeshkian would travel to Pakistan on Saturday at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said official meetings and discussions with “cultural and commercial elites” were on the agenda. “The relations between the two countries encompass political, economic, religious and cultural dimensions, and the goals of the trip include developing provincial and border cooperation and i...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during his official visit to Tehran, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sustained minor leg injuries during an Israeli strike that targeted a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council during the war between both countries last month, the Fars News Agency reported. According to the report on Saturday, the missile attack occurred on June 17 as top Iranian leaders, including the heads of the three branches of government, were meeting in a secure lower level of a building in western Tehran. The strike involved six projectiles that hit the entrances and exits of the building, an approach similar to an assassination operation on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Fars said. Officials managed to evacuate using a pre-planned emergency hatch, the agency reported, noting that Pezeshkian was “injured during the evacuation but was able to exit safely”. The report also said Iranian authorities suspect a possible internal leak, citing the accuracy of the strike. Fars criticised Western and Israeli-affiliated media outlets for ignoring a “blatant ac...

Israel’s attack on the Evin prison in Iran’s capital, Tehran on June 23 killed 71 people, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Sunday. At the end of an air war with Iran, Israel struck Tehran’s jail for political prisoners, in a demonstration that it was expanding its targets beyond military, civilian and nuclear sites to aim at symbols of Iran’s ruling system. According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the 12-day war, 13 of them children and 49 women, before a ceasefire went into effect last week. “In the attack on Evin prison, 71 people were martyred, including administrative staff, youth doing their military service, detainees, family members of detainees who were visiting them and neighbours who lived in the prison’s vicinity,” Jahangir said in remarks carried on the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan. Jahangir had previously said that part of Evin prison’s administrative building had been damaged in the attack, and people were killed and injur...

Posts from multiple users on social media platforms X and Facebook since Monday shared videos allegedly showing Iranian armed forces thanking Pakistan for intelligence support against Israel. However, the viral clips are AI-generated. Israel launched wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences, killing top commanders, scientists and hundreds of others on June 13. Both countries traded wave after wave of devastating strikes and missile volleys since then. A ceasefire was achieved on June 24 after 12 days of fighting. On Monday, a pro-military account on Facebook shared a video of two soldiers allegedly recording a video in gratitude to Pakistan. “Our nuclear programme is safe. Thank you, Pakistan, for protecting it with your intelligence support,” they said. The post was captioned: “An Iranian soldier thanking Pakistan, saying: Thank you, thank you, thank you.” The post gained 1.4 million views and 12,000 reactions. The viral clip was also shared here, here, ...

United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China can continue to purchase Iranian oil after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, a move that the White House clarified did not indicate a relaxation of US sanctions. “China can now continue to purchase oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the US, also,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, just days after he ordered US bombings of three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump was drawing attention to no attempts by Iran so far to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, as a closure would have been hard for China, the world’s top importer of Iranian oil, a senior White House official told Reuters. “The president continues to call on China and all countries to import our state-of-the-art oil rather than import Iranian oil in violation of US sanctions,” the official said. After the ceasefire announcement, Trump’s comments on China were another bearish signal for oil prices, which fell nearly 6 per cent on Tuesday. Any relaxation o...

Iran launched a powerful missile strike targeting main Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, exposing critical weaknesses in Israel’s much hyped defence systems, Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar, reported. According to Mehr News Agency, Lebanese newspapers reported that the Iranian missile strike overcame Israeli interceptive capacity, with many missiles hitting their intended targets with extraordinary exactness. […]

Posts from multiple users on social media platforms X and TikTok on Sunday shared an image claiming to show the Israeli city of Haifa devastated by Iranian missile strikes. However, the viral image is an old photo of an Israeli strike in Lebanon from 2024. As Israel and Iran entered the third day of intense missile exchanges, reports emerged of at least four injuries in Haifa following Iranian strikes on June 15, according to Al Jazeera. The escalation began on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian commanders, scientists, and nuclear facilities, claiming it aimed to halt Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons development — an accusation Iran denies, asserting its programme is for civilian use. On Sunday, an X user shared an image showing a large explosion at night, with multiple fireballs and plumes of smoke rising into the sky. The blast appears to be occurring in a densely populated urban area, given the surrounding city lights and visible high-rise buildings in the foreground. The caption of ...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday dismissed an alleged video circulating online of an Iranian official saying Pakistan will attack Israel with nuclear weapons, amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. Nearly 80 people, including top army officers, were killed while civilians were among over 300 wounded in Iran as a result of Israeli strikes on military sites and private residences on June 13. Iran subsequently launched its own retaliation with ballistic missiles fired at Israel and the two countries continued to exchange a volley over the weekend. Posts from multiple Indian and others users on social media platforms and Indian media outlets since Sunday shared a video of Iranian National Security Council member Mohsen Rezaei, claiming that he said Pakistan told Iran that if Israel drops a nuclear bomb on Tehran, Pakistan would retaliate in kind amid current tensions. However, fact-checking platform iVerify Pakistan concluded that the video was doctored, and the Iranian o...

Iranian state broadcaster hit Tehran asks Arab states to intercede with Trump Iranian lawmakers float idea of q