ISLAMABAD: The government has summoned parliamentary leaders to an in-camera briefing on Wednesday to address the rapidly deteriorating situation across the Middle East, as it attempts to build cross-party consensus on a response that balances sensitive diplomatic relationships and national security concerns.
Politics
Pakistan offers to host US-Iran talks as Dar condemns ‘sudden’ strikes on Tehran
ISLAMABAD: Deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told the Senate on Tuesday that Islamabad stood ready to mediate directly between Washington and Tehran, even as he expressed deep concern over a US-Israeli military strike on Iran that came despite what he described as promising diplomatic progress.
Why Pakistan Is Collateral Damage in the Hormuz Shock
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.
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.
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 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”.
UPDATED – KSE-100 suffers biggest one-day drop ever after PSX halt on Iran strikes
KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark stock index suffered its biggest one-day drop on record on Monday after a sharp early plunge triggered a market-wide trading halt, as escalating military conflict in the Middle East sent oil prices soaring and sparked panic selling.
Pakistan stocks crash 9 percent in five minutes as Iran conflict triggers PSX halt
KARACHI: Pakistan stocks opened to chaos on Monday, with the KSE-100 Index plunging almost 9 percent in the first five minutes of trade before the Pakistan Stock Exchange pulled the plug on all equity trading as Middle East conflict sent oil prices rocketing and triggered outright panic.
At least 19 dead in Pakistan as protests over Khamenei assassination turn violent
KARACHI: At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 injured across Pakistan on Sunday as protests over the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, turned violent in several cities.