The Strait of Hormuz never had to be formally blockaded. Risk aversion did the job anyway. In the 48 hours since US and Israeli attacks escalated against Iran, global oil markets have lurched higher by as much as 13%, Brent crude has traded near $78-$79 a barrel, and tanker traffic at the world’s most critical energy chokepoint has simply frozen in place.
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Pakistan dismisses US-Israeli strike fears as ‘devoid of facts’
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani security official has dismissed as baseless any suggestion that Islamabad could become the next target of US-Israeli military action in the wake of fresh strikes on Iran, describing the speculation as “devoid of facts” and the work of “agents of chaos”, Dawn Newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Hindutva Meets Zionism: Modi’s Dangerous Ideological Bond
When Narendra Modi stood in Israel’s Knesset last week and received a standing ovation, the timing could scarcely have been more revealing. Just days later, joint US-Israeli strikes assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an attack on his compound in downtown Tehran. India’s prime minister, fresh from hugs with Benjamin Netanyahu and the signing of a sweeping new “Special Strategic Partnership”, offered little more than a muted call for “early cessation of hostilities” and a phone conversation expressing “concerns”.
Pakistan strikes Taliban drone depot and ammunition site in Afghanistan as cross-border offensive intensifies
ISLAMABAD: Security forces destroyed a drone storage facility and an ammunition depot operated by the Afghan Taliban in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, an official said on Monday, part of an escalating military campaign that has triggered the most serious clashes between the two countries in years.
Pakistan inflation quickens to highest in four months on electricity, produce surge
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s headline inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in four months in February, climbing to 7 percent year-on-year as higher electricity charges and fresh-produce prices offset declines in chicken and eggs, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
Pakistan forms daily oil oversight committee after Hormuz disruption spurs price spike
By Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will continue passing the impact of higher global oil prices directly to consumers under its existing fortnightly adjustment mechanism, the
Pakistan IMF talks shift to virtual mode after mission relocates to Istanbul amid Middle East crisis
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund’s staff mission in Pakistan switched its talks with authorities to virtual format on Monday after relocating to Istanbul on security advice from Washington headquarters, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Pakistan offers to mediate as it calls for de-escalation after assassination of Iran’s supreme leader
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to calm the crisis in the Middle East after US and Israeli strikes on Iran killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Monday.
Zardari warns India and Afghanistan of ‘humiliating defeat’ in address disrupted by opposition protests
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has issued a pointed warning to India and Afghanistan that any further aggression would meet with decisive force, telling potential adversaries to “prepare for another humiliating defeat” while insisting that Pakistan had so far revealed “only a fraction of our capabilities”.