- Trump reposts Pakistan talks tweet
Iran and Israel traded fresh strikes yesterday even as a fragile diplomatic push gathered pace, with Pakistan emerging as a potential host for talks between Tehran and Washington — and the Pentagon preparing to send thousands of elite American troops to the region.
Iran’s atomic energy organisation also accused the US and Israel yesterday of attacking its Bushehr nuclear power plant, saying a projectile had landed within its compound but caused no damage.
"The American-Zionist enemy has attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant site again,” the organisation said in a statement, adding that "a projectile hit inside the enclosure of the Bushehr power plant”.
Meanwhile, the US military is expected to deploy soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, currently stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to an unspecified location in the Middle East. The move follows last week’s deployment of thousands of Marines and sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. Officials, speaking anonymously, stressed that no decision had been taken to send troops into Iran itself, but that the build-up was intended to expand capacity for potential future operations.
The three-week-old war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, has convulsed global energy markets and destabilised the wider region. — AFP, Reuters To Page 11
Israel conducted a "large wave” of air strikes across Iran, including the central city of Isfahan, while Iranian missile fire wounded four people in Tel Aviv, leaving one three-storey building in ruins. Bahrain, Kuwait, the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all reported intercepting renewed Iranian drone and missile attacks.
Against this backdrop, diplomatic efforts intensified. President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration had held "productive” talks with an unidentified senior Iranian figure — a claim swiftly denied by
Tehran. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf insisted that "no negotiations” were under way, accusing Trump of seeking to manipulate oil markets.
Iran’s foreign ministry, however, acknowledged that messages had been relayed by "friendly countries” conveying a US request for negotiations.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif moved swiftly to position Islamabad as a peacemaker. After speaking with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sharif announced that Pakistan stood "ready and honoured to host meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict,” subject to agreement by both Washington and Tehran. Sharif’s tweet was later reposted by Trump.
A Pakistani government source said discussions on a meeting were at an advanced stage and if it did happen, "a big ‘if’”, it would take place within a week. Pakistan has long-standing ties to neighbouring Iran and has built a steady relationship with Trump.
The US outlet Axios reported that American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could meet an Iranian delegation in Pakistan as early as this week, with Vice-President J D Vance potentially joining.
Oil prices, which had dipped on Trump’s initial diplomatic signals, rebounded with Brent crude back above $100 a barrel. Analysts remain deeply cautious. "Trust has been completely destroyed and the positions of the warring parties are further apart than ever,” said David Khalfa of the Jean-Jaurès Foundation in Paris. "The margin for manoeuvre on both sides is very limited.”