Pakistan says the United States and Iran have expressed confidence in its role as a potential facilitator for talks, with Islamabad saying it would be honoured to host negotiations in the coming days.
Pakistan is preparing to host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt for bilateral meetings and a four-country diplomatic session in Islamabad that is expected to conclude with a joint communiqué and possibly a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Joe Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned with immediate effect, stating that he cannot support the US war in Iran, arguing that Tehran posed no imminent threat, and questioning the basis on which the conflict has been pursued.
Israel says a targeted strike killed Ali Larijani, one of Iran’s most senior security figures, but Tehran had not confirmed the claim at the time of reporting. If verified, it would mark one of the biggest direct blows yet to Iran’s leadership in the current conflict.
Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has been appointed Iran’s new supreme leader, formalising a wartime succession that keeps power within the late Ali Khamenei’s family and signals hardline continuity at the top of the Islamic Republic.
Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul has rejected claims linking it to a visa black market in Afghanistan, saying no private agents or intermediaries are authorised to collect money from applicants.
A Riyadh meeting between Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prince Khalid bin Salman foregrounds Pakistan–Saudi security coordination as the Kingdom discusses steps to halt Iranian missile and drone activity within the Joint Strategic Defence Agreement framework.
Donald Trump has hardened his stance on Iran by declaring that no agreement is possible without “unconditional surrender”, while also saying the United States and its allies would help rebuild the country only after the emergence of what he called “great and acceptable” new leadership.
Saudi Arabia says its air defences intercepted three drones east of Al-Kharj, three cruise missiles outside the city and another drone near Al-Jouf as regional tensions intensify.
Iran’s chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in strikes on Tehran, claims Israel’s military. The IDF also says it targeted additional senior security figures and commanders in the capital.
