Web Desk

This live blog follows updates for Day 74 of the US-Israel war on Iran. For a recap of Day 73, go <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-israel-war-on-iran-day-73" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.<hr style="line-height: 2;"><ul style="list-style-type: square;"><li style="line-height: 2; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">UK, France ministers to hold Hormuz meeting&nbsp;</li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Trump rejects &#39;unacceptable&#39; Iranian terms for ending war</li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">US plan &lsquo;meant Iran&rsquo;s surrender to Trump&rsquo;s greed&rsquo;: Iranian state media</li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Trump says US-Iran ceasefire on &#39;life support&#39;</li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Trump to suspend US gas tax as Iran war spikes prices</li></ul><hr style="line-height: 2;"> Iran criticizes US-proposed UN&nbsp;Hormuz&nbsp;draft, warns of &#39;flawed&#39; outcome Published: May 12, 2026 | 00:40 GMT | by Web Desk Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi on Tuesday criticized reported US-led efforts to draft a UN Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Washington of trying to &quot;shift the terms of the issue&quot;. In a post on X, he said any proposal that ignored &quot;aggression, siege, threats of force, and Iran&rsquo;s legitimate rights&quot; would be &quot;flawed, biased, political, and doomed to failure&quot;. He said &quot;freedom of navigation&quot; was a respected legal principle, but warned it could not be interpreted &quot;selectively, politically, and detached from the United Nations Charter&quot;.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2053929129804714436&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=6b2a0ca9dd96fed6395b35ae83c901fee0efba2a&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 321px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div> <hr> Trump warns US-Iran ceasefire on &#39;life support&#39;, Iran says ready for any aggressionPublished: May 12, 2026 | 00:00 GMT | by AFP President Donald Trump warned the ceasefire in the Middle East war was on &quot;life support&quot; after rejecting the latest counteroffer from Iran, which said its military stood ready to respond to any act of aggression. After slamming the reply as &quot;TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,&quot; Trump insisted the United States would see a &quot;complete victory&quot; over Iran, adding that the truce which has largely halted fighting in the Gulf for over a month was on its last legs. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who served as chief negotiator in previous talks with Washington, said shortly afterwards that his country was prepared &quot;for any eventuality.&quot; &quot;Our armed forces are ready to respond and to teach a lesson for any aggression,&quot; he wrote on X. &quot;A bad strategy and bad decisions always lead to bad results -- the world already understands this.&quot;</div>

US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Rose Garden Club" dinner in honor of Police Week at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 11, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)

Americas

Middle East

Says ceasefire has 1% 'chance of living'; rejects Iran's response to a US proposal for ending the Middle East war, deeming it 'totally unacceptable.'

Trump warns US-Iran ceasefire on 'life support', Iran says ready for any aggression

EINDHOVEN: The last two evacuation planes carrying passengers and crew from the hantavirus-hit ship MV Hondius landed in the Netherlands Tuesday, according to an AFP journalist. Traveling in the two planes were 28 evacuees from the ship, according to the Dutch foreign ministry, including passengers, crew, and medical staff. The first plane to land was transporting six former guests of the Hondius, four from Australia, one from New Zealand, and one British person who lives in Australia. These six are expected to stay in a quarantine facility close to the airport before being repatriated to Australia. Wearing white medical overalls and facemasks, they disembarked from the air ambulance, clutching white bags of their belongings, and walked into the terminal. The other plane was carrying 19 crew members, one British doctor, and two epidemiologists (one from the World Health Organization and one from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control). These crew members disembarked without medical gear but still wearing masks, also carrying large white sacks of their belongings. The Hondius is already steaming its way from Tenerife to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where it will dock for disinfection. Still onboard are 25 crew and two medical staff, operator Oceanwide Expeditions said on Monday. The vessel is also carrying the body of a German passenger who died during the voyage.

This photograph shows a person in a white hazmat suit disembarking a Bombardier Challenger 605 medical aircraft allegedly carrying some of the passengers believed to be infected with hantavirus from the cruise ship MV Hondius, before being escorted to an 

Europe

The first plane to land was transporting six former guests of the Hondius, four from Australia, one from New Zealand, and one British person who lives in Australia.

Last evacuation flights from hantavirus ship land in Netherlands

GENEVA: Conflict and violence drove more people to flee within their own countries last year than natural and manmade disasters for the first time on record, monitors said on Tuesday. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council said in their annual report on the subject that at the end of 2025, 82.2 million people were living in internal displacement worldwide. The figure is just under the highest number ever recorded in 2024. &quot;Numbers remain at historic highs,&quot; the director of the IDMC, Tracy Lucas, told AFP, calling the trends &quot;a wake-up call&quot;. Over the course of last year, 65.8 million new internal displacements were reported, including many people forced to flee multiple times, the report showed. Conflict and violence were responsible for 32.3 million of those displacements -- up 60% from a year earlier -- while 29.9 million fled storms, floods, and other disasters. &quot;Never have we recorded such a staggering number of displacements related to conflict,&quot; said Lucas. &nbsp;&#39;Global collapse&#39;&nbsp;The report detailed how emerging, escalating, and entrenched conflicts in places such as Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo forced people to flee repeatedly within their countries. Such displacements remain highly concentrated. As they were hit by deepening instability last year, Iran and the DR Congo alone accounted for two-thirds of all new conflict-driven internal displacements, counting around 10 million each, the report said. Of the 69.7 million people who at the end of 2025 were living in internal displacement because of conflicts across 54 countries, nearly half were in just five countries, it said. Civil war-ravaged Sudan counted the most IDPs for a third consecutive year, with over nine million, followed by Colombia, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan. &quot;Internal displacement of tens of millions is a sign of a global collapse in prevention of conflict and basic protection of civilians,&quot; NRC chief Jan Egeland said in a statement. With new wars underway this year, adding to numerous entrenched conflicts around the world, more displacement driven by violence can be expected. &quot;Countless families are returning to destroyed homes and disappearing services -- or cannot return at all,&quot; Egeland said. &quot;From DR Congo and Sudan to Iran and Lebanon, we see millions more displaced on top of the previous record numbers driven out of their homes.&quot; Disaster-driven displacement&nbsp;The monitors, meanwhile, highlighted a 35% drop in disaster-driven displacement compared to the &quot;exceptionally high levels&quot; seen in 2024. But they stressed that last year&#39;s figures remained 13% above the annual average for the past decade. As climate change takes an increasing toll, they pointed out that a number of countries that had previously been less affected recorded large-scale disaster-driven displacements last year, even as previous hotspots remained exposed. Wildfires had, for instance, become an increasingly significant driver of displacement globally, accounting for nearly 700,000 displacements in 2025 alone. The report stressed the need to invest heavily in climate adaptation. The stark numbers come with humanitarian organizations worldwide reeling from foreign aid funding cuts, especially from the United States, which was the world&#39;s top donor. Many of the sweeping cuts are being felt by IDPs, who typically garner less attention than refugees, who have fled into other countries. Another impact has been a dramatic decline in the amount of data being gathered, Tuesday&#39;s report said. &quot;Data availability has declined in 15% of the countries where we monitor,&quot; Lucas said. &quot;Reliable displacement data is critical for understanding where needs and risks are greatest and for ensuring that policies and resources match the scale of the challenge,&quot; she warned.

In the Gaza Strip, 1.7 million Palestinians were internally displaced at the end of 2023 [File: AFP]

Over the course of last year, 65.8 million new internal displacements were reported, including many people forced to flee multiple times, the report shows.

Conflict created more internal displacement than disasters last year: monitors

LONDON: Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed to prove his doubters wrong and stem mounting calls for him to step down after disastrous local and regional elections for his ruling Labour Party. But more than 60 of Labour&#39;s 403 MPs asked him to step down, unconvinced by his pledge to make the party bolder and better to assuage disgruntled voters impatient for change. They included four government aides who resigned from their positions. Joe Morris, who was a parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting -- widely rumoured to be considering a leadership challenge -- wrote on X that it was &quot;now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change&quot;. Another, Tom Rutland, who was an aide to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, said Starmer had &quot;lost authority&quot; among Labour MPs and &quot;will not be able to regain it&quot;. Melanie Ward, who was an assistant to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, called for new leadership. &quot;Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy,&quot; she said on X. &quot;But the message from last week&rsquo;s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change.&quot; &#39;New leadership&#39; neededCabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan, who also resigned, added: &quot;I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.&quot; Under party rules, any challenger would need the support of 81 Labour MPs -- 20 percent of the party in parliament -- to trigger a leadership contest. But that would likely spark a damaging bout of infighting, with MPs from the left and right of the party battling to position their preferred candidate or shore up Starmer. Starmer, 63, came to power in July 2024 after a landslide election win that ended 14 years of Conservative party rule dominated by austerity measures, infighting over Brexit, and its Covid response. But he has swerved from one policy misstep to another, and became mired in a scandal over the appointment and sacking of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, after revelations about the envoy&#39;s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has not yet spurred economic growth to help British citizens suffering with the cost of living, but has been praised for resisting US President Donald Trump over Iran. Last week, voters issued a damning indictment of his 22 months in power in local and regional elections, which saw huge gains for the hard-right Reform UK party and the left-wing populist Greens at Labour&#39;s expense. Labour also lost control of the devolved Welsh parliament to nationalists Plaid Cymru for the first time since it was set up in 1999, and failed to make up ground against the Scottish National Party at the Scottish Parliament. In a crunch speech on Monday, Starmer acknowledged the public&#39;s frustration with the state of the country, politics and his leadership. &quot;I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,&quot; he said. He promised &quot;a bigger response&quot; rather than &quot;incremental change&quot; in areas such as economic growth, closer European ties, and energy. He pledged to fully nationalize British Steel and, in the strongest condemnation since Britain&#39;s acrimonious departure from the European Union in 2020, said Brexit had left the UK poorer, weaker and less secure. Nigel Farage, who leads Reform UK and is tipped as a possible future prime minister, was a &quot;chancer&quot; and &quot;grifter&quot; whose virulent pro-Brexit campaign had taken Britain &quot;for a ride&quot;, he said. &quot;If we don&#39;t get this right, our country will go down a very dark path,&quot; he warned. Who succeeds?&nbsp;After the speech, MP Catherine West, who had threatened to trigger a leadership challenge on Monday, said she was instead collecting the names of Labour MPs who want Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September. Starmer pledged to fight any challenge and warned Labour would &quot;never be forgiven&quot; by voters if it imitated the &quot;chaos&quot; of the previous Conservative government, which went through five prime ministers since 2010, including three in just four months in 2022. It has long been rumored that Health Secretary Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could try to oust Starmer. But neither is universally popular within Labour. Rayner, who has stopped short of calling for Starmer to quit, said in a speech of her own Monday that &quot;what we are doing isn&#39;t working, and it needs to change&quot;.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C) and his wife Victoria Starmer (R) leave after casting their votes at a polling station in Westminster Chapel, central London on May 7, 2026, as polls open for local elections. (AFP)

United Kingdom

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces mounting calls to resign after heavy Labour election losses, with more than 60 MPs demanding new leadership as he vows to restore public trust and warns Britain risked heading down a 'dark path'.

Pressure grows on UK's Starmer to quit as PM

WASHINGTON: Top US executives, including Tesla&#39;s Elon Musk and Apple&#39;s Tim Cook, will accompany US President Donald Trump on his visit to China this week, a White House official said Monday. Beijing has said it is ready to work with the United States in pursuit of &quot;more stability&quot; and confirmed that Trump will visit, the first US president to do so since 2017. His trip runs from Wednesday to Friday. Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over key issues ranging from trade tariffs to the Iran war to Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory. While in Beijing, Trump will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the countries&#39; myriad trade and economic issues on the table. Trump and Xi agreed in October to a one-year truce in a blistering trade war that saw tariffs on many goods exceed 100 percent. The US president has been pressuring companies to build manufacturing facilities in the United States, a bid to both reduce imports and increase domestic economic activity. Many top tech companies&#39; supply chains, however, heavily involve China, making them particularly exposed to bilateral trade tensions. The United States has also sought to block China from accessing the highest-end artificial intelligence chips from US companies. According to a list shared by a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Musk and Cook will be accompanied by 15 other chief executive officers. They include the chiefs of Boeing, GE Aerospace, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard and Visa. Among tech companies, top executives from Cisco, Meta, Micron and Qualcomm will be on the trip, the official said. Musk, the richest person in the world, heavily backed Trump on the campaign trail for his second term as US president, contributing more than $280 million. The two had a public falling out in July last year, but appear to have since reconciled, with Musk reappearing in White House circles.

China

Top US executives, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook, will accompany President Donald Trump on his China visit this week, where talks with Xi Jinping are expected to focus on trade, technology and regional tensions.

Musk, Apple's Cook to head to China with Trump: White House

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with President Asif Ali Zardari Monday evening at the President&rsquo;s House in Islamabad.&nbsp; During the meeting, the leaders paid tribute to the martyrs of Marka-e-Haq and discussed the national and broader regional situation.&nbsp; The discussions reaffirmed Islamabad&rsquo;s commitment to national defense and public relief. The meeting also included Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister of Interior Moshin Naqvi, and Chairman of the Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, along with other senior leaders.

Politics

Leaders pay tribute to the martyrs of Marka-e-Haq, discuss the national and broader regional situation.

PM, President discuss evolving regional situation

CANNES: The Cannes Film Festival has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with social network giant and major AI investor Meta, the company announced Monday, despite fears about the impact of its new video tools on the cinema industry.&nbsp;Meta said in a statement that it was &quot;proud to be an official partner of the Festival de Cannes in a new multi-year strategic partnership&quot;, replacing social video platform TikTok.&nbsp;The group is set to organize a series of promotional events for its video-enabled Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which are becoming increasingly popular among influencers but have sparked privacy fears.&nbsp;It will also showcase its new artificial intelligence-powered video generative technology, which has been embraced by Oscar-winning &quot;Traffic&quot; director Steven Soderbergh for his latest film.&nbsp;Soderbergh partnered with Meta for a documentary about the last interview given by Beatles songwriter John Lennon before his death, which will premiere at the Cannes Festival.&nbsp;The film features AI-generated footage of Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono -- a major talking point in an industry which mostly views the technology as a threat to jobs, as well as a danger for copyright and original storytelling.&nbsp;Soderbergh told Deadline magazine last week that AI-generated video comprises about 10 percent of the film and was used for &quot;sequences that have images that are impossible to shoot&quot;.&nbsp;The use of AI was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods.&nbsp;Thousands of French actors and filmmakers warned in an open letter in February that AI tools were &quot;plundering&quot; talent across the industry, comparing them to a &quot;devouring hydra&quot;.&nbsp;The Cannes Festival kicks off on Tuesday and runs until May 23.

Artificial Intelligence

Cannes Film Festival signs a multi-year sponsorship deal with Meta, replacing TikTok. The partnership showcases AI video tools and Ray-Ban Meta glasses amid concerns over AI’s impact on jobs, copyright and original storytelling in the film industry.

Cannes Festival signs up Meta as sponsor amid AI fears

PARIS: Here is a roundup of which countries have confirmed or probable cases of nationals infected by hantavirus after the outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, according to the World Health Organization. Eight cases have been confirmed and two are listed as &quot;probable&quot;, according to the UN&#39;s top health body and certain national health authorities, with citizens of six countries affected. Three people have died, with two of those confirmed as having hantavirus and one probable case. Other suspected cases and potential close contacts of infected people are being investigated, according to health authorities. NetherlandsTwo Dutch people from the ship have died from the virus and one has been confirmed to have contracted the virus. A Dutch couple who had travelled around South America before boarding the ship in Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 were the first fatalities. The husband, 70, showed symptoms on April 6 and died on April 11. His body was taken off the ship during its April 22-24 call at Saint Helena, an island in the south Atlantic. No hantavirus test was carried out and he is considered a &quot;probable case&quot;, according to the WHO. His 69-year-old wife also left the ship at Saint Helena, feeling unwell. Her health deteriorated during an April 25 flight to Johannesburg and she died in hospital a day later, with hantavirus confirmed on May 4. The third Dutch case was the ship&#39;s doctor, who reported symptoms on April 30. A test showed him positive for the Andes strain of the virus on May 6. He was evacuated to the Netherlands the same day after the ship stopped off Cape Verde, and was stable while being treated in isolation. BritainTwo British nationals have been confirmed as infected, and one is classed as a &quot;probable&quot; case. One British man became ill on April 24 with signs of fever and pneumonia and was evacuated three days later from the Atlantic island of Ascension to South Africa, where he was placed in intensive care. Hantavirus was confirmed in his case on May 2 and the Andes strain was confirmed through sequencing. A second British man working as a guide on the ship reported symptoms on April 27 and tested positive on May 6. He was evacuated to the Netherlands on May 7 from Cape Verde and was stable while being treated in isolation. A third British man left the Hondius on April 14 on the South Atlantic Archipelago of Tristan da Cunha and was treated in isolation there. He reported symptoms on April 28. The WHO listed him as a &quot;probable case&quot; pending laboratory results. British paratroopers and medics parachuted onto the island to deliver urgent medical supplies for him, ministers said. GermanyA German woman who had a fever on April 28 and later developed pneumonia died on May 2 on board the ship. A post-mortem sample was sent to the Netherlands with the evacuated patients, where tests confirmed infection by the Andes virus. Her body remained on board the Hondius, which was due to leave for the Netherlands from the Spanish island of Tenerife late Monday. SwitzerlandA Swiss man disembarked from the Hondius in St Helena on April 22 and flew to Switzerland on April 27 via South Africa and Qatar. He started suffering symptoms on May 1 after arrival in Switzerland. He was treated in isolation and tested positive for the Andes virus on May 5. FranceA French woman repatriated from the Hondius felt unwell late on May 10 and tested positive for hantavirus, France&#39;s Health Minister Stephanie Rist said. United StatesOne of 17 American citizens repatriated from the ship tested &quot;mildly PCR positive&quot; for the virus, while another had &quot;mild symptoms&quot;, the US Department of Health and Human Services said on May 10.

Eight cases have been confirmed, and two are listed as "probable", according to the UN's top health body and certain national health authorities, with citizens of six countries affected.

Hantavirus: What we know about confirmed cases by nationality

ISTANBUL: One of the border crossings between Turkey and Syria is to reopen on Tuesday, ending a 12-year closure, local officials said Monday.&nbsp;The reopening of the Akcakale crossing, which sits roughly in the middle of Turkey&#39;s 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, is the latest step in Damascus&#39;s move towards normalization with its neighbors.&nbsp;It was partially reopened in 2019 for trade, funerals and the crossing of government officials after a Turkish military operations.&nbsp;The decision will now mean the crossing is open to civilians.&nbsp;&quot;In light of the normalisation of life in the region... entry and exit procedures using passports to and from the Syrian Arab Republic via the Akcakale Land Border Crossing will start on Tuesday,&quot; the Sanliurfa governor&#39;s office said in a statement.&nbsp;The move will mean six of the 12 crossings between Turkey and Syria will be open.&nbsp;Turkey has forged close ties with Syria&#39;s new rulers, with President Ahmed al-Sharaa joining a diplomacy forum in Turkey&#39;s southern Antalya resort in April.

Turkey will reopen the Akcakale border crossing with Syria to civilians on Tuesday, ending a 12-year closure. The move increases the number of operational crossings between the two countries to six, reflecting improving ties between Ankara and Damascus.

Turkey-Syria border gate to reopen after 12-year closure

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday met with the US Charg&eacute; d&rsquo;Affaires Natalie Baker in Islamabad to discuss the evolving regional situation. During the meeting, the two sides discussed broader bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States, according to a statement from the foreign office. FM Dar expressed hope that the &ldquo;ongoing diplomatic efforts would contribute to peace and stability&rdquo; in the region, which has been impacted by the US-Israel war on Iran. The foreign minister also appreciated Washington&rsquo;s assistance in the &ldquo;repatriation of Pakistani and Iranian seafarers through Singapore,&rdquo; said the statement. Later the same day, Dar also spoke with the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the regional situation and matters of mutual interest. The Saudi Foreign Minister appreciated Pakistan&rsquo;s constructive role and reiterated support for Islamabad&rsquo;s efforts aimed at promoting regional peace and stability. &ldquo;Both leaders also exchanged views on the importance of safeguarding maritime security, including in the Strait of Hormuz, and agreed to remain in close contact on regional and international developments,&rdquo; the statement added. Pakistan continues to facilitate and mediate diplomatic efforts between US and Iran as which stands on a ceasefire at the request of Islamabad. UN envoy meets Pakistan FM in Islamabad Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General&rsquo;s Special Envoy for the Middle East Conflict, Jean Arnault, called on Pakistan&rsquo;s foreign minister. In a statement on X (Twitter), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Arnault commended Pakistan&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region. He reiterated continued United Nations support for such engagement. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2053848103925821598&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F5818%2F&sessionId=4ec4793f203495461cdeb832f47a76ae2165f7b3&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" data-tweet-id="2053848103925821598"></iframe></div></div> The two leaders also exchanged views on recent regional developments. Dar outlined Pakistan&rsquo;s ongoing contacts with relevant parties and expressed appreciation for the UN secretary-general&rsquo;s support and contributions over the years.

Foreign Affairs

Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker discuss regional tensions, bilateral ties, and diplomatic efforts linked to the Iran ceasefire.

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