Islamabad braces for historic US-Iran face off

ISLAMABAD: A high-level Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad early Saturday for the first direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, as Pakistan attempts to broker an end to the Middle East conflict that has roiled the region since late February.

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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warns of ‘no plan B’ if high-stakes US-Iran talks collapse

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Friday that the international community has no fallback strategy if weekend peace negotiations between the United States and Iran collapse, urging both sides to seize the current two-week ceasefire and forge a lasting resolution to the conflict that has roiled the Middle East and sent economic shock waves worldwide.

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Sindh orders early shop closings across Pakistan’s financial hub to curb energy use amid fuel crisis

KARACHI: The Sindh provincial government on Friday directed all shops, markets and shopping malls in Karachi and the province’s other divisional headquarters to shut by 9 p.m. every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays, as part of a sweeping set of austerity measures aimed at conserving energy during a global fuel crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

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Pakistan economy on firmer footing but Middle East conflict clouds outlook, ADB warns

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy is expected to sustain its recovery over the next two years as manufacturing rebounds and private investment gathers pace, the Asian Development Bank said Friday, even as the escalating conflict in the Middle East poses “significant” risks to growth, inflation and external balances.

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Pakistan’s top leaders review mediation drive as US and Iranian delegations head to Islamabad for high-stakes talks

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of army staff and chief of defence forces, met Thursday to review the country’s mediation efforts aimed at forging a lasting peace between the United States and Iran, just a day before delegations from both nations are expected to arrive here for direct negotiations.

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