There is a particular kind of political theatre that only Donald Trump can produce — one where spectacle and genuine crisis become so thoroughly entangled that it grows almost impossible to distinguish posturing from policy. This week’s cabinet meeting at the White House offered yet another masterclass. Asked whether he would accept a short-term arrangement allowing Iran and Oman to jointly oversee passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the President of the United States responded with characteristic economy of thought. “Oman will behave just like everybody else,” he said, “or we’ll have to blow them up.”
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US and Iran near accord even as Gulf erupts
ISLAMABAD: American and Iranian negotiators have reached the outlines of a sweeping 60-day memorandum of understanding that would freeze their three-month-old war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to unrestricted shipping, and launch direct negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program — but President Trump has yet to give his blessing, and the Gulf itself offered a stark reminder Thursday of how easily the arrangement could unravel.
Pakistan plans strategic oil reserves and trader storage to counter Hormuz dependence
KARACHI: Pakistan is preparing to build its first strategic petroleum reserves and invite international traders to hold commercial stocks on its soil, a push aimed at shielding the economy from supply disruptions after years of relying on shipments through the volatile Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
Pakistan marks nuclear anniversary with pledge of deterrence, not aggression
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared Thursday that Pakistan “harbors no aggressive intentions” against any country as the nation observed the 28th anniversary of its nuclear tests, a milestone that transformed it into the world’s newest declared atomic power and reshaped the balance of terror in South Asia.
Sindh shatters heat record with 51.5°C in Dadu as UN predicts years of record global heat
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said on Thursday that the country had set a new temperature record, with the mercury soaring to 51.5 degrees Celsius in the southern district of Dadu in Sindh province.
Dar to meet Rubio in Washington as Pakistan works to salvage fragile ceasefire in Middle East war
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday to discuss bilateral relations and Pakistan’s mediation efforts in the three-month-old conflict between the United States and Iran, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Trump’s Abraham Accords Gambit Is Not Diplomacy – It’s a Distress Flare
Three months after launching a war he couldn’t win, Donald Trump is trying to reframe catastrophic strategic failure as the dawn of a new Middle East. The silence from Muslim leaders on that Saturday phone call told us everything we need to know
Iran war diplomacy lurches forward – and sideways – as Trump adds new demands
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Monday raised the stakes in delicate negotiations to end the nearly three-month war with Iran, declaring he would accept nothing short of a transformative agreement even as his own secretary of state cautioned that a breakthrough he had seemed to promise over the weekend remained elusive.
LNG tanker exits Hormuz for Pakistan as crude supertanker finally heads to China after three-month Gulf standstill
KARACHI: A liquefied natural gas tanker slipped out of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday bound for Pakistan, while a supertanker carrying Iraqi crude for China finally cleared the Middle East Gulf on Saturday after nearly three months stuck inside, shipping data showed.
IHC halts demolition threat at One Constitution Avenue amid high-profile ownership dispute
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday barred the Capital Development Authority from evicting residents of One Constitution Avenue, a luxury residential and commercial tower in the heart of Pakistan’s capital, issuing a stay on intra-court appeals until the full case can be heard.