By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pledged solidarity with Iran on Saturday as Tehran traded missile strikes with Israel, intensifying a conflict that risks destabilising the Middle East.
In Brussels, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned the violence could spiral into “Iraq 2.0 or World War III,” pressing for urgent global action.
Israel struck targets inside Iran early Sunday, promising “Tehran will burn” after Iran’s overnight missile barrage retaliated for Israeli attacks on its nuclear sites. Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, said Friday’s Israeli assault killed nearly 80 people, including top generals, and injured over 300 civilians.
In a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sharif condemned Israel’s actions as “unprovoked and unjustified aggression” and a “violation of [Iran’s] sovereignty and territorial integrity,” state broadcaster PTV News reported.
PM Sharif asserted Iran’s right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter and lambasted Israel’s “provocations and adventurism” as a “serious threat to regional and global peace and stability.”
“Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly people of Iran,” Sharif told Pezeshkian. He also denounced Israel’s “unabated acts of brutal genocide against the brave Palestinians” and pressed the international community and the United Nations to take “immediate and credible steps” to halt Israeli aggression.
Pezeshkian expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s backing, calling it a “reflection of the close and brotherly relations between the two countries”.
He briefed Sharif on Iran’s view of the crisis, urging the international community, especially Islamic nations, to unite against these threats. The leaders pledged to stay in close touch as events unfold.
Speaking in Brussels, Bhutto-Zardari, head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, cautioned against a wider war.
“We certainly do not want a war on this border,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s frontier with Iran. “Pakistan has condemned the strikes that took place over the last couple of days on our neighboring country.”
Bhutto-Zardari stressed Pakistan’s desire for peace along all its borders, with Afghanistan, Iran, and India, and warned of catastrophic consequences if the conflict widens.
“We absolutely cannot afford this conflict in Iran to turn into Iraq 2.0 or World War III,” Bhutto-Zardari said. He criticized the global tendency to default to military solutions, noting, “It has become far too easy to have a war every month.” Calling for an immediate ceasefire between Iran and Israel, he added, “We cannot have perpetual war. It serves none of our interests.”
At home, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reinforced the country’s alignment with Iran during a parliamentary session on Saturday. “Pakistan will safeguard Iran’s interests at all international fora, including the United Nations,” he said.
Condemning Israel’s attack on “our neighbor and fraternal country,” Asif called for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to showcase Muslim unity.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s policy of non-recognition of Israel, stating, “Pakistan stands firm on its traditional stance, as it has neither recognized Israel nor established relations with it.”
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