Middle East | Pakistan

Pakistan, along with 13 other nations, has condemned the remarks made by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, where he suggested that he would not be opposed to Tel Aviv taking over large swathes of the Middle East, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. Huckabee made the remarks in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Friday, where the envoy asserted that Israel’s borders are based on the Bible when questioned about the country’s current boundaries. In response, Carlson noted that the biblical verse included the region between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile in Egypt. To this, Huckabee, who is a staunch pro-Israel conservative, said, “It would be fine if they (Israel) took it all”. In a joint-statement issued today, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Kuwait, Oman, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, along with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Gulf...

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said that he would not be opposed to Tel Aviv taking over large swathes of the Middle East, reported Al-Jazeera. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, is a staunch pro-Israel conservative. In a Friday interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the envoy asserted that Israel’s borders are based on the Bible when questioned about the country’s current boundaries. Carlson noted that the biblical verse includes the region between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile in Egypt. “It would be fine if they took it all,” said Huckabee, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last year. Carlson, clearly surprised, questioned Huckabee on whether he truly endorsed Israel’s expansion across the entire region. “They don’t want to take it over. They’re not asking to take it over,” the ambassador replied. The US envoy then appeared to downplay his comments, describing them as “somewhat of a hyperbolic statement,” while still allowing for the possibility of Israeli...

(LEFT) Iran and Russia carry out a joint military exercise; while (right) US Air Force planes are seen on the tarmac at the Sofia airport in Bulgaria.—Reuters • Trump says Tehran has ‘10 days’ to make a deal with Washington, or ‘bad things will happen’ • Kremlin urges restraint; Germany pulls troops out of Iraq; Poland tells citizens to leave Iran WASHINGTON: War clouds are looming over the Middle East, as US warplanes and aircraft carriers head toward Iran in preparation for possible military action. Renewing his threats towards Tehran, President Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that the country has around 10 days to reach a deal with Washington, or “bad things will happen”. CNN and CBS reported on Wednesday that the US military would be ready to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend, though Trump has reportedly not made a final decision yet. White House Press Secretary Karoline Lea­vitt warned on Wednesday there were “many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran”...

US President Donald Trump on Friday embraced potential regime change in Iran and declared that “tremendous power” will soon be in the Middle East, as the Pentagon sent a second aircraft carrier to the region. Trump’s military moves and tough talk come even as Washington and Tehran seek to revive diplomacy over Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West. Asked if he wanted regime change in Iran, Trump responded that it “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.” He declined to share who he wanted to take over Iran, but said, “there are people.” “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking,” Trump said after a military event at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We’ve been going on for a long time.” Washington wants nuclear talks with Iran to also cover the country’s ballistic missiles, support for armed groups around the region and the treatment of the Iranian people. ...

The Pentagon is sending an aircraft carrier from the Caribbean to the Middle East, US officials said on Friday, a move that would put two carriers in the region as tensions soar between the United States and Iran. The Gerald R. Ford carrier, the United States’ newest and the world’s largest carrier, has been operating in the Caribbean with its escort ships and took part in operations in Venezuela earlier this year. Asked why a second aircraft carrier was headed to the Middle East, US President Donald Trump said: “In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it … if we need it, we’ll have it ready.” One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the carrier would take at least a week to reach the Middle East. The Gerald R. Ford will join the Abraham Lincoln carrier, several guided-missile destroyers, fighter jets and surveillance aircraft that have been moved to the Middle East in recent weeks. The United States most recently had two aircraft carriers in the area last year, when it carried ...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit with the Middle East swelled by 7.88 per cent during the first five months of 2025-26, driven by a surge in imports and a decline in exports to the region. In absolute terms, the trade gap with the Middle East widened to $5.948 billion in July-November from $5.514bn in the same period last year, according to data compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan. In FY25, the deficit with the region increased 7.37pc to $13.974bn from $13.014bn in the preceding year. The swelling trade deficit is a cause for concern among policymakers, primarily due to the rising influx of petroleum products from the region. The increase was noted in imports from the region, reflecting higher oil imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by Saudi Arabia and other countries. Exports to the Middle East fell 9.85pc to $1.217bn in 5MFY26 from $1.350bn over the corresponding months of last year. In FY25, exports to the Middle East fell 1.52pc to $3.107bn from $3.155bn over the same period last y...

United States President Donald Trump told the Israeli parliament on Monday that the ceasefire he helped broker in the Gaza conflict had ushered in the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”. “And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” he said. “This is not only the end of a war … This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.“ Trump’s lightning visit to Israel came ahead of a summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh co-chaired by the American president, who has declared the conflict in Gaza “over”. Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to release nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in its jails. Addressing the Israeli parliament, Trump called the agreement that brought about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the captives held by Hamas a triumph as he thanked mediators from the...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held urgent telephone discussions with the ambassadors of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace and stability, ARY News reported. During his call with Qatar’s Ambassador Ali Mubarak Ali Essa Al-Khater, PM Shehbaz expressed deep concern over the recent Iranian missile strike on a US military base […]

Iran on Monday struck a retaliatory missile attack targeting the American Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, while launching a missile operation called “Annunciation of victory” against US bases in Iraq and Qatar, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency. 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 drew threats from Tehran to retaliate, with US military installations in the region a potential target. The following are significant US facilities in the Middle East: Bahrain Home to the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, whose area of responsibility includes the Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. Qatar The 24-hectare Al Udeid Air Base, in the desert outside the capital Doha, is the forward headquarters for US Central Command, which directs US military operations in a huge swathe of territory stretching from Egypt in the west to K...

President Asif Ali Zardari has called for urgent dialogue and diplomatic engagement to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East, expressing deep concern over the rising tensions in the region.

June 22: U.S. forces have struck Iran’s key nuclear sites, drawing threats from Tehran to retaliate, with U.S. military installations in the region a potential target. Following are significant U.S. military bases or facilities in the Middle East: BAHRAIN: Home to the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, whose area of responsibility includes the […]

ISLAMABAD: The PTI patron-in-chief, Imran Khan, has delayed his party’s countrywide protest for at least two weeks owing to the situation in the Middle East. This was announced by Mr Khan’s sisters, Noreen Niazi and Uzma, after they met their brother in Adiala Jail on Tuesday. Mr Khan’s third sister, Aleema, was not allowed to meet her brother. Talking to the media, Ms Niazi said her brother was “well aware of the international situation” and said that Pakistan should remain united during Iran-Israel war. Ms Uzma said the world already knew about Mr Khan’s stance against Israel. Earlier, Mr Khan had called upon his supporters to start preparations for countrywide protests after Eidul Azha. PTI Central Infor­mation Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram also confirmed that Mr Khan has delayed the protests for two weeks. “We are passing through very sensitive time. So it has been decided that the party will not hold any protest for two weeks,” Mr Akram told Dawn. Raoof Hasan, the head of PTI’s political think tank, stat...

Nationwide protests against President Donald Trump, tensions in the Middle East amid Israel’s strikes on Iran and expected rainy weather in Washington on Saturday could dampen spirits at a military parade on the US Army’s 250th anniversary, set to feature tanks on the streets and aircraft flying overhead. Trump, whose 79th birthday is also on Saturday, will preside over the parade. Week-long protests in Los Angeles against Trump’s immigration crackdown have spread to multiple cities including Chicago, New York, San Antonio, Texas, and Washington. The Republican president has ordered National Guard troops and US Marines to Los Angeles, a heavily Democratic city — a deployment that California Governor Gavin Newsom has challenged in court. Anti-Trump groups are planning to hold nearly 2,000 demonstrations of varying sizes across the country to coincide with the parade. Many are taking place under the theme “No Kings,” asserting that no individual is above the law. The protests, if they go as planned, would repre...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because “it could be a dangerous place”, adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday that the US is preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy and will allow military dependents to leave locations around the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region, according to US and Iraqi sources. The four US and two Iraqi sources did not say what security risks had prompted the decision, and reports of the potential evacuation pushed up oil prices by more than four per cent. A US official said the State Department had authorised voluntary departures from Bahrain and Kuwait. The State Department updated its worldwide travel advisory on Wednesday evening to reflect the latest US posture. “On June 11, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel due to heightened regional tensions,” the ...