Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed regret that an attack by Israel on Iran set out events that “severely damaged the peace process” at a time when Washington and Tehran were close to coming to the table.

His statement in the Senate came ahead of an 8pm ET (5am PKT) deadline that US President Donald Trump has given to Iran to enter a ceasefire agreement with Washington. Trump has warned of wider bombing on power plants and other critical infrastructure otherwise.

Addressing the Senate, Dar has said Pakistan had been playing a proactive diplomatic role to reduce tensions, but recent developments had dealt a severe blow to peace efforts.

“Just as both parties were close to sitting at the negotiating table, Israel attacked Iran, which led Iran to target oil installations in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail city. This situation has severely damaged the peace process”, he has said.

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