The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks ended without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
A source close to Iran’s negotiating team has told Fars news agency that negotiations with the US are not possible until Tehran receives its frozen funds.
India’s equity benchmarks have fallen as fresh US strikes on Iran dampened hopes of an imminent peace deal to end the three-month-long Iran war that has upended the inflation and growth outlook for Asia’s third-largest economy, Reuters reports.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.49pc to 23,913.7 and the BSE Sensex lost 0.63pc to 76,009.7.
The indexes rose to two-week highs a day earlier after US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal.
Today, 12 of the 16 major sectors fell, with heavyweight financials leading losses with a 0.7pc decline.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.4pc and 0.5pc, respectively.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told military commanders that regional countries concluded the US military presence in the Gulf “has failed to ensure their lasting security” and “relying on America for security has been an unrealistic and ineffective notion”, Al Jazeera reports.
According to a statement from Iran’s presidential office, Pezeshkian also called for updating Iran’s defence structure, warning “the enemy has acquired new technologies and tools”.
The armed forces must pursue “the technological edge and enhancing defence capabilities” through greater use of universities, scientific centres, and knowledge-based companies, it said.
Pezeshkian also thanked the military for its “commitment to professional duties and avoidance of political and partisan issues”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Muslims to uphold the values of unity, sacrifice and collective responsibility in his message on the Day of Arafat.
The prime minister said that during the sacred moments of Haj, Pakistan as a nation prays for peace, security and stability across the world.
PM Shehbaz said the dignified gathering of Haj reflects the spirit of unity among the Muslim community. He observed that the true secret of national and collective progress and prosperity lies in the spirit of love, sacrifice and mutual cooperation.
The Israeli forces say they struck more than 100 sites in the Beqaa Valley and across southern Lebanon overnight, claiming it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
It also shared footage of one of the overnight strikes.
Iran’s senior member of the Parliament Ebrahim Azizi has said the US must take five necessary confidence-building steps before it can reach any agreement with Iran, emphasising that there will be no deal without such measures, state-run Press TV reports.
These measures include: “An end to war on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon, with guarantees that the war will not be repeated; lifting of naval blockade; acceptance of Iranian arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz; suspension of oil sanctions; and release of Iran’s blocked assets”, Azizi said in a televised interview.
He has added that if the measures are carried out, “we will enter a 30 and 60-day time-frame, followed by discussions on the details of sanctions and the remaining issues”; otherwise, the “agreement will not happen”.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has cited a source close to Iran’s negotiating team as saying $24bn of frozen Iranian assets must be released in any potential deal with the US.
The source said Tehran’s position is that half of the amount – $12bn – must be released when a memorandum of understanding is announced, with the remaining amount released within 60 days.
Egypt’s FM Dr Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan yesterday to “discuss regional de-escalation efforts”, Egypt’s foreign ministry says.
“The two ministers exchanged views and assessments on the progress of negotiations between the United States and Iran, emphasising the paramount importance of supporting the negotiation process and relying on diplomacy and dialogue as the only way to reduce tensions and end the war,” the statement read.
“Both ministers expressed their hope that all parties would adopt wise and responsible positions and embrace diplomacy to resolve their differences,” it added.
The Israeli army has begun mobilising troops with the aim of intensifying its ground assault on Lebanon, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reports according to Al Jazeera.
“The army has requested that soldiers who were discharged in recent days report for reserve duty immediately,” it said.
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, speaking to Geo News, has said that the country’s diplomacy was at “its height of the past 78 years,” appreciating the CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir’s “huge role” in the US-Iran mediation process.
Referring to an article published in TRT World commending CDF Munir’s role, the state minister said, “This is the [..] teamwork due to which Pakistan today is at the heights of diplomacy”.
He added that the country has also emerged as a “trusted partner” to all major global powers.
“It is not part of any alliance but is known as a common friend,” he added.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash has affirmed that his country is “capable of overcoming challenges with confidence and steadfastness”.
“Wars may impose circumstantial challenges, but the UAE was built on solid foundations that make it more capable of cohesion and overcoming them,” Gargash wrote on X.
“The UAE’s success was not born of chance, but the fruit of a steadfast vision and sincere, continuous work over the years,” he asserted.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it reserved the “legitimate and definite” right to retaliate against any violations of the ceasefire by the United States, Reuters reports.
The IRGC also said its air defence units had shot down a US MQ-9 drone and opened fire on a fighter jet that allegedly entered Iranian airspace.
The Iranian supreme leader further said that Iran’s armed forces, “alongside the fighters of the Resistance Front — especially dear Lebanon — achieved remarkable victories against the two terrorist and fully armed American-Zionist armies” in the recent war.
He asserted that Iran “succeeded in rendering the Zionist regime helpless under its devastating blows” in the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict, delivering a “harsh slap to the aggressor America, and thwarting the enemy in its goal of Iran’s surrender”.
Khamenei noted solidified “threads of connection” among the Islamic Ummah and the Resistance Front, “from Iran to Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria, from Africa and Yemen to Afghanistan, Pakistan and all the free nations of the world”.
China has urged the “parties concerned” to observe a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war, after US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran as well as boats trying to lay mines, AFP reports.
“We urge the parties concerned to fulfil their ceasefire commitments, resolve disputes through peaceful means… and promote the early restoration of peace,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing when asked for China’s reaction.
China foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addresses a press briefing on Nov 25, 2025. — fmprc.gov.cn/File
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei further said that the “shaky Zionist regime and the cancerous tumour of Israel have also drawn near to the final stages of their ill-fated lifespan”.
Khamenei stressed that the rituals at Arafat this year “hold double importance, and the depth and breadth of disavowing America and the Zionist regime surpasses the ritual of disavowal in the season and station of Haj”.
“After these blessed days, ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ will be the prevalent slogan of the Islamic Ummah,” he asserted.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said the “nations and lands of the region will no longer be shields for American bases”.
In his message issued on the occasion of Haj, Khamenei said the US “will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region”.
He also commended the “valiant warriors and self-sacrificing armed forces”, who “struck the Great Satan — namely America — and its trained beast, the Zionist regime”.
Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as a US official said the militia had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten US Iran negotiation, Reuters reports.
As the US and Iran appeared to draw closer to a potential deal on Sunday, Netanyahu said he and President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that Israel would retain the right to confront perceived threats on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Netanyahu doubled down on that message, saying in a video released on Telegram: “We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a deeply controversial pledge on Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected in September 17 polls. — AFP/File
