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Pakistan eases banking rules for Iran exports

On the 29th day of the US-Israel war on Iran, the conflict transitioned into a more visibly regional phase as strikes on Iran’s industrial and nuclear infrastructure were met with coordinated retaliation across multiple Gulf states. Over the past 24 hours, US and Israeli operations focused on degrading Iran’s war-sustaining capacity through coordinated strikes on its three largest steel production facilities, including plants in Ahvaz and Isfahan, effectively halting output at sites considered critical for missile and drone manufacturing chains. Parallel attacks targeted nuclear infrastructure, including the Arak heavy-water plant and the Ardakan yellowcake facility, as part of exerting pressure on Iran’s strategic programmes without directly crossing into overt nuclear escalation. Civilian impact also became increasingly more visible, with reports of casualties in residential areas of Isfahan and heavy munitions used in parts of Tehran and Qom. A plume of smoke rises from the site of a strike on Tehran, Iran...

De pro-Iraanse Houthi’s openen een nieuw front in de oorlog tussen Iran en de VS met een raketaanval op Tel Aviv. 

Yemen's pro-Iran launched a missile at Israel on Saturday after threatening to act if an escalation against Iran and the 'axis of resistance' continued. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack, Israeli authorities said

WASHINGTON: Democrats on the United States House Armed Services Committee have called for an immediate public hearing on President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, pressing the Pentagon to testify publicly as concerns mount over strategy, transparency, and the mounting human and economic costs of the conflict. In a letter led by Ranking Member Adam Smith and signed by every Democratic member of the committee, the lawmakers urged Chairman Mike Rogers to convene a separate hearing on the conflict, apart from routine budget and posture hearings, and to require the Department of War to explain its objectives, operational plans, and costs. The Democrats noted that the war has already resulted in the deaths of 13 US service members and 290 wounded, along with more than a thousand civilian deaths. They expressed concern about the lack of clarity on possible US ground operations, shifting strategic and operational objectives, and reports that the administration intends to request a $200 billion supplemental budget fo...

ISLAMABAD: As maritime trade becomes more uncertain due to the Gulf crisis, Pakistan has permitted exporters to continue shipping food and pharmaceutical products to Iran via land routes without using mandatory banking instruments. Simultaneously, the federal government has permitted the export of rice to Central Asian Republics and Azerbaijan via the land route through Iran. The decision was communicated to customs field formations through an official message issued by the commerce ministry. According to the decision, the government has permitted the export of 10 food items to Iran via land route without the need for financial instruments. These items include rice, seafood, potatoes, meat, onions, maize, citrus fruits, bananas, tomatoes, and frozen chicken. Two other non-food items are pharmaceutical products and tents. Exemptions will be granted to exporters for the export of these items to Iran for three months — from March 24 to June 21. The exemption also covers rice exports routed through Iran’s land co...

An indictment alleges the air force officer leaked real-time details of the June 2025 Israeli strike on Iran to guide Polymarket bets, netting about $244,000 with an associate

Bij aanvallen op woongebouwen zijn vrijdag in Iran meer dan twintig doden gevallen, meldden meerdere media. Eerder op de dag viel de Israëlische krijgsmacht twee nucleaire installaties in Iran aan. Bij Iraanse aanvallen op Israël vielen zeker één dode en meerdere gewonden, vermoedelijk als gevolg van een clusterbom. En bij een Iraanse aanval op een basis in Saoedi-Arabië raakten twaalf Amerikaanse militairen gewond. Volg alle ontwikkelingen in het Midden-Oosten in ons liveblog.

Donald Trump zoekt een diplomatieke uitweg uit de oorlog tegen Iran. De Amerikaanse president begon aan de strijd zonder duidelijk doel voor ogen, zegt Clingendael-expert Bob Deen.

The United States can only determine with certainty that it has destroyed about a third of Iran’s vast missile arsenal as the US and Israeli war on the country ​nears its one-month mark, according to five people familiar with the US intelligence. The status of around another third is less clear but bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and ‌bunkers, four of the sources said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the information. One of the sources said the intelligence was similar for Iran’s drone capability, saying there was some degree of certainty about a third having been destroyed. The assessment shows that while most of Iran’s missiles are either destroyed or inaccessible, Tehran still has a significant missile inventory and may be able to recover some buried or damaged missiles once fighting stops. The intelligence stands in contrast to President Donald Trump’s public remarks on Thursday that Iran ​had “very few rockets le...

Trumps oorlog tegen Iran eiste vrijdag in New York opnieuw zijn tol. De beurzen kleurden na een alweer sombere handelsdag opnieuw rood.

ISLAMABAD - Behind the scene diplomatic developments suggest that Pakistan is increasingly positioning itself as an important diplomatic intermediary in international crises, particularly in efforts to reduce tensions between the United States and Iran.

European NATO allies should not give in to pressure from the U.S. President Donald Trump and should tie any support for his policy on Iran to the provision of American weapons to Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a forecast on how long the war in Iran will last.

Petrol mai puțin, benzină mai scumpă, piețe nervoase. Războiul din Iran trezește amintiri din anii 1970. La acea vreme, economia germană a alunecat într-o stagflație. Cât de gravă este situația astăzi, în realitate?

Het begrotingstekort loopt fors op door stijgende defensie-uitgaven. Zelfs als alle bezuinigingen lukken en als de economische effecten van ‘Iran’ beperkt blijven, komt de EU-drempelwaarde in zicht.

De oorlog met Iran duurt nu precies vier weken. Olie- en gasprijzen schoten omhoog en de minder meetbare onzekerheid sloeg toe. Wat merken sectoren daarvan? „Klussen kunnen langer duren of duurder uitpakken. We vragen opdrachtgevers om coulance.”

On the 28th day of the US-Israel war against Iran, US President Donald Trump’s decision to extend the “pause” on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure until April 6 created the appearance of a diplomatic opening; but in effect, it reflected an attempt to buy time amid rising military, economic and political pressures, while keeping escalation options firmly on the table. The extension, framed by Washington as a response to “ongoing talks,” has been rejected by Tehran as psychological signalling, with Iranian officials maintaining that no such request was made and reiterating their rejection of the US proposal. This difference in itself underscores the underlying reality that the pause is less about de-escalation and more about managing the pace of escalation, allowing the US and Israel to sustain pressure through other means while avoiding an immediate dive into full-scale energy warfare. On the battlefield, the conflict continued to operate at a high intensity. Iranian ballistic missile barrages and ...

In a phone call with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah “fully endorsed” Pakistan’s efforts for mediation between Iran and the US, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The statement said that PM Shehbaz held a phone call with the crown prince and “apprised the Kuwaiti leadership of Pakistan’s sincere diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war in the Middle East”. During the conversation, PM Shehbaz reiterated “strong condemnation” of the attacks on Kuwait and expressed solidarity and support for the people of the Gulf country in these challenging times, the statement said. PM Shehbaz also offered condolences on the loss of precious lives and prayed for the recovery of the injured, it added. “While expressing deep appreciation of the prime minister’s leadership, the crown prince of Kuwait fully endorsed Pakistan’s efforts for mediation between Iran and the US,” the statement said. The crown prince thanked the prim...

China’s foreign ministry accused the media of publishing “false information” on Friday following a report that said the country’s top semiconductor firm has sent chipmaking tools to Iran. The report, which cited information from two unidentified senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, said contract chipmaker SMIC “began sending the tools to Iran roughly a year ago”. A US official was quoted in the report as saying they had “no reason to believe that any of this has stopped”. China is a key partner of Iran but has not announced military assistance to Tehran in the war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, repeatedly calling for a ceasefire. The chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Friday. Asked about the report at a regular news conference in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he was “not familiar with the situation”. “What I can tell you is that recently, some media have been k...