HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani received a phone call Friday from Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. During the phone call, they discussed co-operation relations between the two countries and ways to support and enhance them.They also discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly the Israeli attack on Iran. HE Sheikh Mohammed expressed Qatar's condemnation of the repeated Israeli violations and attacks in the region, which undermine peace efforts and threaten to drag the region into a regional war.He emphasised the seriousness of Israel targeting economic facilities in Iran, warning of its disastrous regional and international repercussions, particularly for the stability of energy supplies.He also stressed the need to spare civilians the consequences of war and the commitment of both parties not to target civilian facilities.HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised the need for co-ordinated regional and international efforts to de-escalate tensions and resolve disputes through diplomatic means, affirming that Qatar is actively working, in close co-operation with its partners, to revive dialogue among all parties in order to address outstanding issues and to promote regional as well as international peace and security.

Iran said Friday it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel, as Europe tried to coax Tehran back into negotiations and the US considers whether to get involved in the conflict.A week into its campaign, Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets. The Israeli military later said they had struck surface-to-air missile batteries in southwestern Iran. Explosions were heard in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province and at least four people there were killed, IRNA news agency reported.At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser's, Fars news agency reported. Iranian air defences were activated Friday evening, Fars news agency reported.Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel and Haifa in the north. A foreign ministry video showed extensive damage to a high-rise building that houses a branch of Israel's Interior Ministry. Haifa is home to Israel's busiest seaport and a naval base.Fars news agency quoted an Iranian military spokesman as saying Tehran's missile and drone attacks Friday had used long-range and ultra-heavy missiles against military sites, defence industries and command and control centres.About 20 missiles were fired in those latest Iranian strikes, an Israeli military official said, and at least two people were hurt, according to the Israeli ambulance service.Israel's envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, told the UN Security Council his country would not stop its attacks "until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled". Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the US may join the war.The head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint."Armed attack on nuclear facilities... could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked," Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council.Iran said Friday its air defences had been activated in Bushehr, without elaborating.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also speaking at the world body's Security Council, said the Iran-Israel conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control" and called on all parties to "give peace a chance".Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.US President Donald Trump presided over a national security meeting about Iran Friday with top aides at the White House, a US official said.Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is in regular contact with the Iranians, the official added.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US "until Israeli aggression stops". But he later arrived in Geneva for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear programme.Before the meeting with France, Britain, Germany and the European Union's foreign policy chief, two diplomats said Araqchi would be told the US is still open to direct talks. But expectations for a breakthrough are low, diplomats say.A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that any proposal for zero enrichment — not being able to enrich uranium at all — would be rejected, "especially now under Israel's strikes".

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday hosted Pakistan’s army chief for lunch in an unprecedented White House meeting that risked worsening a disagreement with India over the Republican president’s claim that he stopped the recent war between the nuclear-armed South Asian foes.It was the first time that a US president has hosted the powerful head of Pakistan’s army, widely regarded as having sway over the country’s national security policies, at the White House unaccompanied by senior Pakistani civilian officials.Trump’s lunch with Field Marshal Asim Munir represented a major boost in US-Pakistan ties, which had largely languished under Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden, as both assiduously courted India as part of efforts to push back against China.Munir was expected to press Trump not to enter Israel’s war with Iranand seek a ceasefire, Pakistani officials and experts said. A section of Pakistan’s embassy in Washington represents Iran’s interests in the United States, as Tehran does not have diplomatic relations with the US.Pakistan has condemned Israel’s air strikes against Iran, saying they violate international law and threaten regional stability.Asked what he wanted to achieve from the meeting, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Well, I stopped a war ... I love Pakistan. I think (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India.“But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side and others,” he did, referring to Munir. “They were going at it — and they’re both nuclear countries. I got it stopped.”Trump had said last month that the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by the US, and that the hostilities ended after he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war.Pakistan has thanked Washington for playing a mediating role, however, India has repeatedly denied any third-party mediation.