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Says the US is talking with Iran right now to try to end the Middle East war; claims Iran badly wants a deal, and senior US officials are taking part in the talks.

All you need to know about Day 25 of US-Israeli war on Iran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz greetings to Iran&rsquo;s President Masoud Pezeshkian, while expressing solidarity with the Iranian people amid what he described as &ldquo;ongoing hostilities&rdquo; in the region, the prime minister&rsquo;s office said. During his virtual call, Pezeshkian reciprocated the greetings and conveyed his best wishes for the people of Pakistan, the statement added. PM Sharif expressed &ldquo;deep condolences&rdquo; over the loss of lives and prayed for the recovery of those injured and displaced, the statement said. He also voiced &ldquo;serious concern&rdquo; over the situation in the Gulf, calling the hostilities &ldquo;dangerous&rdquo; and urging collective efforts for de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy among neighboring countries, the statement said. The prime minister stressed the importance of unity within the Muslim world, adding that Pakistan would continue diplomatic outreach and play a constructive role in promoting regional peace, according to the statement.

Foreign Affairs

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz greetings to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, while expressing solidarity with the Iranian people amid what he described as “ongoing hostilities” in the region, the prime minister’s office said

Pakistan PM extends Eid greetings, expresses solidarity with Iran amid ‘ongoing hostilities’

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">&Icirc;LE LONGUE: President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that France will expand its atomic arsenal and could deploy nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries for the first time, as he unveiled a plan to bolster security on the continent. Speaking from the Ile Longue nuclear submarine base as the clock ticks on his presidency, Macron announced that eight European countries including Germany, Poland, Sweden and Britain had agreed to participate in what he called a &quot;forward&quot; nuclear deterrence scheme. In a joint statement following Macron&#39;s speech, France and Germany said they had set up a &quot;nuclear steering group&quot;, saying such an arrangement would &quot;add to, not substitute for, NATO&#39;s nuclear deterrence&quot;. &quot;We are currently experiencing a period of geopolitical upheaval fraught with risks,&quot; Macron said, speaking after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East. &quot;We must strengthen our nuclear deterrent in the face of multiple threats, and we must consider our deterrence strategy deep within the European continent, with full respect for our sovereignty.&quot; Macron said eight European countries had agreed to join his plan to use France&#39;s nuclear stockpile to bolster security on the continent. The countries&mdash;including the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, and Denmark&mdash;will be able to temporarily host French &quot;strategic air forces,&quot; which will be able to &quot;spread out across the European continent&quot; to &quot;complicate the calculations of our adversaries,&quot; he said. The scheme could also involve &quot;the conventional participation of allied forces in our nuclear activities&quot;, such as recent military exercises in which British forces have been involved, Macron added. He stressed that France would maintain tight control over nuclear decision-making. In the joint statement, France and Germany said they had agreed to take &quot;first concrete steps beginning this year,&quot; including German conventional participation in French nuclear exercises. &#39;Arming up with our friends&#39;Macron updated France&#39;s nuclear doctrine as Russia&#39;s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington&#39;s wavering commitment to Europe. Reassurances from US officials that the American deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears&nbsp;of fickleness under US President Donald Trump. Macron stressed the new effort would be &quot;in addition to NATO&#39;s nuclear mission.&quot; &quot;The forward deterrence we are proposing is a separate effort, which has its own value and is fully complementary to NATO&#39;s, both strategically and technically,&quot; he said. He also said he ordered an increase in the number of nuclear warheads but added France would no longer be disclosing any details on its stockpile. Macron listed the measures as France&#39;s allies fret that a possible win by the eurosceptic far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen in next year&#39;s presidential election could undermine European cooperation. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland was in talks with France and other European allies on further steps. &quot;We are arming up together with our friends so that our enemies will never dare to attack us,&quot; he said on X. Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson also said his country viewed Macron&#39;s initiative &quot;positively.&quot; &quot;Naturally, we would most like to see a world completely free of nuclear weapons,&quot; he said. &quot;But as long as Russia has these weapons and threatens its neighbors, democracies must be able to deter attacks and safeguard our own security and freedom.&quot; Electoral politicsFrance maintains the world&#39;s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, with around 290 warheads.&nbsp;Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, is the only other European nuclear power. By contrast, the US and Russia, the world&#39;s two main atomic powers, each have thousands of nuclear warheads. Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, warned that a far-right electoral victory next year &quot;could walk back many or even most of these steps.&quot; &quot;Macron emphasized that France would not share decision-making authority and that it would not conduct joint planning of nuclear operations with European partners&mdash;suspicions that the French fringes harbor as undermining French sovereignty,&quot; he told AFP. &quot;Still, electoral politics can have a great impact on the credibility of nuclear deterrence as perceived by allies and adversaries&mdash;as developments since Trump&#39;s re-election demonstrate.&quot;

Europe

President Emmanuel Macron said France will expand its atomic arsenal and could deploy nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries for the first time, as he unveiled a plan to bolster security on the continent

France to boost nuclear arsenal, could deploy atomic weapons to European allies

ISLAMABAD: Iran and Pakistan are currently in one of their &quot;most constructive phases&quot; in decades, Iran&rsquo;s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri-Moghaddam said Tuesday during a talk at an Islamabad think tank, according to a press release. The Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East, and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad hosted a public event titled &ldquo;Pakistan-Iran Relations: An Enduring Partnership in a Changing Region.&rdquo; &nbsp; Amiri-Moghaddam said the two neighbors share a long border and together represent nearly 350 million people. He noted that strong people-to-people ties, a strategic location, and complementary economic structures create opportunities for cooperation. The ambassador described the two countries as brotherly nations bound by culture, history, and religion. He said ties predate Pakistan&rsquo;s creation, with Iran being the first country to recognize the new state and supporting Pakistan during the 1965 and 1971 wars. The Iranian ambassador said that more than 25 high-level delegations have been exchanged with Pakistan over the past two years, with 25 agreements and memoranda of understanding signed across sectors, reflecting an upward trajectory in bilateral relations. Two Iranian presidential visits took place during this period, along with visits by Iran&rsquo;s Speaker of Parliament, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the foreign minister, and other senior officials. Collaboration extends through regional engagement and mutual diplomatic support. Both countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Economic Cooperation Organization, and the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation, he said. He noted that Pakistan and Iran together form a market potential of nearly two billion, which could expand further with the inclusion of Turkiye. He said ties rest on a foundation of shared history, culture, and strategic interests. He said Pakistan and Iran align on issues such as Palestine, while terrorism and separatist movements require closer coordination. He acknowledged that difficult periods strained relations, but said the countries are now closer than ever despite challenges such as terrorism and sectarianism. He added that amid regional hostilities, Pakistan and Iran remain committed to pursuing peaceful solutions. Pak-Iran ties grounded in shared security Meanwhile, CAMEA Director Dr Amina Khan said the bilateral relationship between Iran and Pakistan was grounded in historical ties, geographic proximity, and shared security and economic interests. She said that relations have remained positive in recent years, marked by high-level engagement, close coordination on regional developments, and adherence to the principle of sovereign equality. She noted that both countries are aligned on issues including Afghanistan, the Gaza crisis, and broader regional stability. The director also mentioned that Pakistan condemned Israel&rsquo;s 12-day military strikes on Iran last year as &ldquo;reckless&rdquo; provocations and a &ldquo;grave violation of Iran&rsquo;s sovereignty and territorial integrity,&rdquo; international law, and the UN Charter. An engaging question-and-answer session was held at the end of the event, which was attended by diplomats, academics, students, practitioners, and members of civil society, according to the press release.

Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri-Moghaddam speaks at an Islamabad public talk on Pakistan-Iran relations, highlighting 25 agreements and high-level delegations over the past two years. (Institute of Strategic Studies/Facebook)

Iran and Pakistan mark a constructive phase in relations, with 25 delegations and agreements exchanged, shared regional and economic interests, and alignment on issues like Afghanistan and Gaza, according to officials.

Articles tagged with "Iran-Israel War"

All you need to know about Day 25 of US-Israeli war on Iran

Pakistan PM extends Eid greetings, expresses solidarity with Iran amid ‘ongoing hostilities’

France to boost nuclear arsenal, could deploy atomic weapons to European allies

Pakistan ties at 'most constructive phase': Iran ambassador