ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday vehemently denounced the US strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities and urged the government to immediately convene an all-parties conference (APC) to thoroughly discuss the rapidly deteriorating regional situation and formulate a consensus-based, clear-cut policy on belligerent Israel which is pushing the entire region to the brink of a devastating war.

PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram, in a sharply-worded statement issued on Sunday, expressed alarm that the regional situation was fast changing and the government’s approach could prove disastrous.

He said the government’s current policy of burying heads in the sand, hoping the storm will pass is futile, as flames of war have already reached Pakistan’s doorstep.

Mr Akram underlined that Pakistan can undoubtedly weather the storm, just as it did against India, but the ruling elite must take the nation into confidence and forge a consensus-driven approach because Pakistan is currently caught between a rock and a hard place.

Flames of war have reached Pakistan’s doorstep, says PTI leader Sheikh Waqqas

In the light of the escalating crisis, the PTI leader demanded immediate release of PTI leader Imran Khan and his inclusion in the strategic decision-making regarding the situation arising from the Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran and the subsequent Washington strikes on Tehran’s nuclear sites.

Mr Akram praised the jailed PTI leader’s foresight, noting that a week earlier, he had sent a message through his sisters to postpone the protest for two weeks due to the Iran-Israel conflict.

He also criticised the US president’s deceptive policy towards Iran and said the US President Donald Trump recently claimed the US would not be involved in the Iran-Israel war for the next two weeks, but the US launched the attack within a couple of days later and the US president himself announced the attack.

Mr Akram said the jailed PTI leader Khan’s famous quote, “No one understands the West better than me” has proved to be true.

The PTI leader said that the US has not only violated Iran’s sovereignty, but it has also breached the UN Charter — an act that may have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences at both regional and international levels.

He said the excuse for the Israeli attack on Iran was even more absurd than India’s recent strike on Pakistan under the pretext of the Pahalgam attack. He said the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have adopted a blatantly contradictory and biased approach towards the Muslim world as far as the nuclear issue is concerned as they have been conspicuously silent about Israel’s widely acknowledged nuclear arsenal.

He said the UN and OIC must demand the IAEA to inspect Israel’s nuclear sites and it must work towards a nuclear-free Middle East. Mr Waqas said that Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is intended solely for peaceful purposes.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2025