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.
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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.
At least 14 killed in Quetta train blast as Baloch militants claim responsibility
QUETTA: At least 14 people were killed and several others injured on Sunday morning when a powerful blast tore through a shuttle train in this southwestern Pakistani city, authorities said, in an attack that officials immediately attributed to militants and that the Balochistan Liberation Army later claimed responsibility for.
Trump says US-Iran peace deal largely negotiated; Pakistan to host next round of talks
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the three-month-old war with Iran has been “largely negotiated,” with final details expected to be announced within days and the critical Strait of Hormuz reopened as part of the agreement.
Army chief Munir leaves Tehran with deal hopes alive, but deep divisions persist
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief departed the Iranian capital on Saturday after a round of intensive overnight talks that his government called a breakthrough in the making, even as Iran’s chief negotiator sat across from him and warned that any resumption of American military strikes would bring consequences more catastrophic than the opening salvos of a war that has already rattled the global economy and shut down one of its most vital waterways.
Field Marshal Munir in Tehran to salvage US-Iran ceasefire
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s most powerful military commander flew to the Iranian capital Friday night, touching down amid an urgent and precarious flurry of diplomacy aimed at preventing the fragile ceasefire in the US-Iran war from unravelling entirely — and potentially averting a new round of American strikes that, by multiple accounts, Washington was actively contemplating.
Field Marshal Munir heads to Tehran in final push to end US-Iran war
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top military commander flew to Tehran on Friday in what officials and mediators described as a final push to secure a framework agreement that would formally end the war between the United States and Iran and open a 30-day window for negotiations on a more sweeping accord, including a resolution of the Iranian nuclear standoff.
Pakistan pledges ‘highest-level’ security for Chinese workers as leaders celebrate 75 years of ironclad friendship
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday pledged to provide Chinese nationals in Pakistan with security equivalent to that afforded the country’s own president and prime minister, as Islamabad and Beijing marked the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations with ceremonies that blended celebration and pointed assurances amid persistent militant threats.
Iran reviews US responses to peace proposal as Pakistan intensifies mediation in bid to end war
ISLAMABAD: Iran said on Thursday it was reviewing the latest American responses to its proposal for ending the war with the United States and Israel, even as Pakistani officials pressed forward with a burst of shuttle diplomacy aimed at salvaging negotiations that President Donald Trump described as teetering on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed U.S. strikes.
Interior minister Naqvi makes second trip to Tehran in five days as US-Iran peace efforts enter critical phase
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday for talks with senior Iranian officials, his second visit in less than a week, as Islamabad pressed ahead with intensive mediation to prevent the resumption of hostilities between Washington and Tehran.