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”
A meeting between Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has begun, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
It said that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir were also present for the meeting.
“The regional situation will be discussed in the meeting,” it said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has spoken to Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan regarding Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts, according to the Foreign Office.
It said that Dar emphasised that sustained engagement through “dialogue and diplomacy remains the only viable means for promoting peace and stability in the region and beyond”.
Iran’s military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has warned the US of a response if it continues its naval blockade of Iran’s ports, Tasnim reports.
“Should the invading American army continue the siege, piracy, and maritime theft in the region, they can be certain that they will face the reaction of the powerful Iranian armed forces,” the outlet quoted the military as saying.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is facilitating talks between the United States and Iran for “achieving peace and stability in the region and beyond”, according to the Foreign Office (FO).
“Pakistan is facilitating Iran-US talks for achieving peace and stability in the region and beyond,” he said during a meeting to review the latest developments in the region.
“He also underlined that Pakistan’s official policy statements on the Iran-US facilitation process are only those issued by official sources. Unnamed Pakistani officials or sources, whether quoted in print or social media, do not reflect Pakistan’s official position,” it said.
“He advised print and electronic media to refrain from speculative reporting and focus on official statements only,” the FO added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has delivered Tehran’s negotiating demands, as well as its reservations about US demands, to Pakistani officials during his visit to Islamabad, a Pakistani source involved in the talks tells Reuters.
“Deliberate efforts” are being made to redraw the map of the Middle East, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has warned, Anadolu Agencyreports.
“The Middle East is going through critical circumstances amid deliberate efforts to redraw its map,“ Sisi said in a televised speech to mark the 44th anniversary of Sinai’s liberation from Israeli occupation.
He called for full implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, including unhindered entry of humanitarian aid and the immediate launch of the enclave’s reconstruction.
The president also expressed Egypt’s categorical rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians.
Qatar has condemned in the “strongest terms” the targeting of two Kuwaiti border posts by drones launched from Iraq, Al Jazeera reports.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said the attack was a “blatant violation of Kuwait’s sovereignty and a serious threat to regional security and stability”.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses the need for Iraq to assume its responsibilities to prevent the recurrence of such attacks. The ministry reaffirms Qatar’s full solidarity with Kuwait and its support for all measures taken to safeguard its sovereignty and security”, the statement on X added.
Israeli troops have blown up buildings in the city of Bint Jbeil as they continue their attacks on southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera Arabic staffers report.
Smoke billows from explosions in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on April 25, 2026, where the Israeli army has detonated residential homes. — Reuters
Iranian authorities have said that “controlled explosions resulting from the disposal of ammunition by the armed forces” could possibly be heard between 1pm and 2pm (2:30pm-3:30pm PKT) today in some areas of Dezful County, Tasnim reports.
A security personnel diverts traffic at a closed road in the Red Zone area of Islamabad on April 25, 2026. — AFP
An army personnel keeps watch in the Red Zone area of Islamabad on April 25, 2026. — AFP
Police officers stand guard at a closed street leading to the Serena Hotel, the venue for expected US-Iran talks, in Islamabad’s Red Zone on April 25, 2026. — AFP
Police officers walk near the Serena Hotel, the venue for expected US-Iran talks, in Islamabad’s Red Zone on April 25, 2026. — AFP
John Stawpert, marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping, has condemned the US and Iran’s tit-for-tat capture of commercial ships and is calling for the immediate release of their crews, Al Jazeera reports.
Stawpert told Al Jazeera that seafarers must be allowed to go about their business “freely and without persecution”.
“All these people are doing is transporting trade. And really, we can’t have a situation where ships are being seized, ultimately for political ends, to prove a political point,” said Stawpert, whose organisation represents about 80 per cent of the world’s merchant fleet.
“These are innocent farers and they should be allowed to go about their jobs without fear of, essentially, imprisonment.”
Iran’s IRGC Intelligence Organisation has said it had dismantled several groups linked to “anti-government organisations” in the western provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Tasnim reports.
The Israeli military has carried out bombings in the city of Khiam in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.
The strikes, including on residential blocks, came soon after the Israeli military said it was continuing its attacks on southern Lebanon, despite the ceasefire extension.
The Israeli army has reiterated that it continues to occupy swathes of land in southern Lebanon, where it has established a Gaza-like “Yellow Line”, expanding control up to the Litani River, Al Jazeera reports.
“Approaching the area of the Litani River, Wadi Salhania and Saluki is not permitted,” said Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee.
A tow truck crosses the Litani River through a makeshift bridge, after Israeli forces destroyed the previous one in the Lebanese village of Bedias.—AFP
The Trump administration has said it had imposed sanctions on an independent “teapot” refinery in China for buying billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil, as Washington and Tehran head into another round of peace talks over the weekend, Reuters reports.
The Treasury Department targeted Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it said is one of Iran’s largest customers of crude oil and petroleum products.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also imposed sanctions on about 40 shipping companies and vessels that operate as part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
China has said it opposes “illegal” unilateral sanctions.
A man is seen at an exit of the refinery plants of Chambroad Petrochemicals in Binzhou, Shandong province, China on October 24, 2019. —Reuters/File
Iran’s defence ministry has said the United States was seeking a “face-saving” way to exit the war, as US envoys travelled to Pakistan for peace negotiations.
“Our military power today is a dominant force, and the enemy is looking for a face-saving way to escape the war quagmire it has become trapped in,” media outlet ISNA quoted a ministry spokesperson as saying.
The statement comes as US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to leave for Islamabad, though Iran has said direct negotiations are not on the cards.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has cautioned that Turkiye would reassess its position on the Strait of Hormuz if any future technical coalition of countries became a party to renewed conflict, Reuters reports.
Fidan also said he believed issues related to Iran’s nuclear programme could be resolved at the next round of talks in Pakistan.
Police officers walk past posters highlighting Pakistan’s mediation of Iran–US peace talks near the Serena Hotel at the Red Zone area in Islamabad on April 25, 2026. — AFP
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that Turkiye could consider taking part in demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz following a possible peace agreement between Iran and the United States, Reuters reports.
Fidan, speaking to reporters in London last evening, said a technical team was expected to carry out mine-clearing work in the strait after any agreement, adding that Turkiye viewed such efforts positively in principle as a humanitarian duty.
Fidan said any demining work would be carried out by a technical team from various countries, formed after a possible Iran-US peace agreement.
Turkiye would have “no problem” with participating in mine-clearing operations under those conditions.
The IRGC has announced that its officials have arrested nearly 240 people in operations in two provinces, Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Al Jazeera reports, citing Iran’s Mehr news agency.
In Kurdistan province, the IRGC claimed to have arrested 11 people while also killing one member of a Kurdish armed group.
IRGC forces also seized a cache of arms and ammunition. Nearly 70 others were arrested in separate raids, Mehr reports.
In Kermanshah province, the IRGC arrested 155 people, who, it said, belonged to “counter-revolutionary groups”, including four spies alleged to be associated with Israel’s Mossad.
The Israeli army has said that its forces struck three different areas in southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah rocket launchers in overnight operations, Al Jazeera reports.
The Israeli army claimed it hit the Hezbollah assets in Deir El Zahrani, Reman, and Al-Saamiya in southern Lebanon.
