Iran | Pakistan

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to hold a news conference on Thursday to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a stinging row over how much American bombardment set back Tehran’s nuclear programme. After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since June 13, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities at the weekend. The extent of the damage in Iran, where Israel said it had acted to stop an imminent nuclear threat, has become the subject of profound disagreement in the United States. An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran’s nuclear programme was set back only months at most. Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilogramme of enriched uranium — which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country. The US administration has ...

US airstrikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months, according to a preliminary US intelligence assessment, as a shaky ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, both Iran and Israel signaled that the air war between the two nations had ended, at least for now, after Trump publicly scolded them for violating a ceasefire he announced at 5am GMT (10am PKT). As the two countries lifted civilian restrictions after 12 days of war — which the US joined with an attack on Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities — each sought to claim victory. Trump said over the weekend that the US deployment of 30,000-pound bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme. But that claim appeared to be contradicted by an initial assessment by one of his administration’s intelligence agencies, according to three people familiar with the matter. One of the sources said Iran’s enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the countr...

Qatar’s prime minister said on Tuesday that the country had brokered a ceasefire with Iran amid the ongoing war with Israel at the request of the United States to play a role as a liaison. He also said that relations with Iran were scarred by an Iranian missile volley at a United States airbase in the Gulf Arab state, but added that he hoped ties would eventually “come back to normal”. Iran responded to US participation in Israel’s air war against Iran by firing missiles on Monday at the Al Ubeid air base, but no one was hurt after Tehran gave warning, and a ceasefire was announced hours later by Washington. Qatar, situated just across the Gulf from Iran, has often acted as a mediator in regional conflicts, including between Iran and the US and between Israel and Hamas in the continuing Gaza conflict. “What happened will definitely have its scar on the relationship [with Iran], but I hope by the time everyone learns the lesson that this kind of neighbourhood relationship should not be violated and should not ...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has strongly condemned the Israeli aggression towards Iran and criticised the Western world’s “double standard”, saying that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) performance was “tainted with hypocrisy and a selective approach”. Asif earlier stressed that Pakistan stood in “complete solidarity” with Iran amid Israel’s unprovoked and “unjustified aggression” against Tehran, which began on June 13 and escalated over 12 days. The conflict intensified after the US intervened by striking three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Tehran first responded by launching missiles at Tel Aviv, then targeted US bases in Qatar following the American strikes. On Tuesday morning, US President Donald Trump announced that Iran and Israel had reached a “ceasefire”. Israel, without evidence, claimed that its initial strike on Iran was “preventive”, meant to address an immediate, inevitable threat from the Islamic Republic’s part to construct a nuclear bomb. Tel Aviv also suggested that the IAEA repor...

• Calls attack a violation of international law and a dangerous provocation • Accuses Israel of repeating false claims about Iran’s nuclear weapons to manipulate American policy ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday vociferously condemned the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, noting that the Israeli government was forcing the American public into a war that the people do not support. “This is done through the same lie that was peddled to the American public before the Iraq war in 2003. Now it has been claimed that Iran is the one with weapons of mass destruction,” he said while speaking in the National Assembly. The PPP chairman said that after decades of repeating the same lie—that Iran was just days away from developing nuclear weapons, a claim made by the Israeli prime minister in 1996, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2023, 2024, and 2025 — Israel’s regime has finally attacked Iran under the pretext of this falsehood, which he deeply regretted. Condemning the attack on Iran, he said the ...

Saudi Arabia lambasted Iran for its “unjustifiable” attack on a US base in Qatar on Monday, offering to deploy “all its capabilities” to support Doha, with whom it has had fraught relations in the past. Riyadh said it “condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the aggression launched by Iran against the sisterly State of […]

An emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Monday reaffirmed Iran’s right to self-defence following the airstrikes by the United States on three nuclear facilities. After months of attacking Gaza — flattening homes, targeting hospitals, and starving a besieged population — Israel expanded its assault by launching wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences on June 13, killing top commanders, scientists and civilians. A day earlier, President Donald Trump said US air strikes “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites, as Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran in a flashpoint moment for the Middle East. The strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which came four days after Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir’s meeting with Trump and a day after the government said it decided to formally recommend Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his role during the recent conflict with India, were condemned by Pakistan. A meet...

Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council to unequivocally reject and condemn the attacks against Iran since 13th of this month, which are in clear contravention of international law and the UN Charter.

Iran said on Monday that the US attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called US President Donald Trump a “gambler” for joining Israel’s military campaign against the Islamic Republic. Since Trump joined Israel’s campaign by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning, Tehran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate. But while it has continued to fire missiles at Israel, it has yet to take action against the United States itself, either by firing at US bases or by targeting the 20 per cent of global oil shipments that pass near its coast at the mouth of the Gulf. “Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, said on Monday in English at the end of a recorded video statement. Iran and Israel traded another wave of air and missile strikes on Monday as the world braced for Tehran’s response. Trump’...

Former foreign minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has issued a strong warning over the global silence surrounding Israel’s aggression toward Iran, urging Pakistan and the international community to speak out before the conflict engulfs the entire region.

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the current situation in districts bordering Iran which were facing food and fuel shortages due to the Iran -Israel war. The meeting focused on the availability of food supplies, fuel provision and safe return of pilgrims and students from Iran, and the overall security and administrative conditions in these areas. The meeting was briefed by authorities concerned on the current management strategies and future plans. “At present there is no food shortage in the border areas,” officials concerned claimed at the meeting. However, reports reaching here say that the situation is not normal and the people are facing food and fuel shortages in these areas. The chief minister ordered authorities concerned to ensure uninterrupted food and fuel supplies in these regions to prevent any public inconvenience. He also instructed the departments concerned to maintain electricity and LPG supply by implementing alternative sol...

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Sunday that Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with neighboring Iran in the face of Israels unprovoked and unjustified aggression. Talking to a private news channel, he said that Pakistan condemned the attacks carried out by Israel and is gravely concerned about the potential for further escalation in the region. The threat of a wider war in the Middle East is real, he warned, calling for an immediate end to the hostilities. He said the recent crisis has revitalized Pakistan-Iran relations, with brotherly ties growing stronger. Offering his analysis on the situation, he said, Israels existence poses a continuous threat to regional peace. The concept of peace with Israel is inherently contradictory. He asserted that Israels so-called invincibility has been badly exposed. The spirits of the people of Gaza remains unshaken like rock solid. He emphasized that Israel must abandon the illusion that bombing Muslim populations will crush their willpower. T...

ISTANBUL: Foreign ministers from Muslim countries on Sunday urged Israel to end its aggression towards Iran, without mentioning the US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites. Ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) “condemn firmly the aggression of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, stress the urgent need to stop Israeli attacks and their great concern regarding this dangerous escalation”, said a statement, issued after the end of a summit in Istanbul this weekend. It made no direct reference to the US bombardment of Iran’s key nuclear facilities early on Sunday, after President Donald Trump decided to join Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme. But the OIC did denounce the “destabilisation policies of Israel in the region and its recent attacks on Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, constituting a flagrant violation of sovereignty and security of these countries and international law”. Omits mention of US strikes on nuclear facilities; Dar wants Israel held accountable, s...

NEW YORK: A US attack on Iranian nuclear sites could push oil prices even higher and trigger a knee-jerk rush to safety, investors said, as they assessed how the latest escalation of tensions would ripple through the global economy. The reaction in Middle East stock markets, which trade on Sunday, suggested investors were assuming a benign outcome, even as Iran intensified its missile attacks on Israel in response to the sudden, deep US involvement in the conflict. Investors said they expected US involvement would cause a stock market selloff and a possible bid for the dollar and other safe-haven assets when major markets reopen, but also said much uncertainty remained. “I think the markets are going to be initially alarmed, and I think oil will open higher,” said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital. Economists warn dramatic rise in oil prices may damage global economy “We don’t have any damage assessment and that will take some time. Even though (Trump) has described this as ‘done...

ISLAMABAD - The United Nations Security Council meeting on Iran was in progress on Sunday night till last reports came in.

ISLAMABAD - Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has strongly condemned the US attack on Iran, stating that America has destroyed global peace through its aggression.

ISLAMABAD - Kashmiri leader and social activist Mushaal Mulick has expressed deep concern over the alleged attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the US.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of ongoing Israeli aggression against the sovereignty of Iran and called for accountability of Israel’s unjustified and illegitimate actions.

ISLAMABAD - Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam yesterday stressed Tehran’s unwavering commitment to its nuclear programme.

ISLAMABAD - Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Sunday said that Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with neighboring Iran in the face of Israel’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression.