ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi departed for Tehran on Saturday carrying, what an informed source termed, an important message from Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces (COAS & CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
The source told IRNA that Naqvi’s visit comes after a series of high-level consultations in Islamabad, including discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, underscoring the significance of the mission amid evolving regional diplomatic developments.
According to the source, the interior minister has been entrusted with delivering a message from Field Marshal Asim Munir to Mojtaba Khamenei during his visit to Tehran.
The source further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif provided Naqvi with special instructions concerning ongoing discussions related to Iran-US talks, highlighting Islamabad’s close attention to developments affecting regional stability and diplomacy.
Naqvi’s visit is being closely watched in diplomatic circles as Pakistan and Iran continue to engage on a range of bilateral and regional issues, including security cooperation and broader geopolitical developments in the region.
No official details regarding the contents of the message have been disclosed. However, the reported exchange reflects continued high-level communication between the leaderships of the two neighbouring countries at a time of heightened regional engagement.
Pakistan has played an increasingly visible role in efforts to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Tehran. Islamabad hosted the first round of talks between the two sides in April, though the negotiations could not produce any breakthrough.
Since then, Pakistani officials have remained engaged with both governments, relaying messages and exchanging proposals aimed at reducing tensions and reviving diplomatic negotiations.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Interior Minister Naqvi in Lahore on Saturday and held consultations regarding the minister’s visit to Tehran. The prime minister also provided Naqvi guidance concerning the Tehran visit.
The interior minister briefed the prime minister on his various important meetings held on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Bishkek. The overall law and order and security situation in the country was also discussed, the PM Office in a statement said.
Meanwhile, Iran launched a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait on Saturday after fresh American strikes, drawing a furious response from the Gulf monarchies and further straining a fragile truce.
The United States military said it attacked radar sites on Iran’s southern coast in the latest flare-up to threaten the ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
US Central Command said in a statement that its forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, then attacked Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island.
“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” while the strikes on radar installations “defend against further attacks,” the statement said.
Later, Iran’s foreign ministry said the US “not only lacks the will to reduce tensions and return to the path of stability, but with its adventurist actions, it seriously endangers the security of the region”.
In a statement on X, the ministry condemned the US attack on its coastal radar and surveillance facilities in the Sirik region and on Qeshm Island, saying it violated the ceasefire.
It added that the responsibility for the consequences and repercussions arising from those actions lies with the US, reported the Mehr news agency.
The ministry “strongly calls on the countries of the region to observe the principle of good neighbourliness and adhere to the fundamental principle of international law of refraining from allowing aggressors to use their territory and facilities to plan and carry out aggressive actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Earlier, Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones towards Bahrain and Kuwait, Bahrain’s government said, adding that they were intercepted. It called on Tehran to immediately cease attacks on Gulf neighbors that it deemed a “serious escalation.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the Ali Al Salem air base, which hosts US forces in Kuwait, and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. The US military said there were no reports of harm to US personnel.
Kuwait’s army said it engaged seven missiles from Iran, adding Iranian attack caused material damage, but no injuries. While Bahrain said it intercepted three missiles and several drones from Iran.
Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran’s growing power had reshaped the regional balance and forced President Donald Trump to seek a temporary deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“The West’s long-feared nightmare has materialised,” Velayati wrote on X, adding that Iran’s rising power had changed the “strategic map”. He claimed Reuters and The Guardian had acknowledged that Trump needed a temporary agreement to reopen Hormuz, calling it “the collapse of the Iran pressure doctrine” and “a victory for the resistance.” Velayati also warned regional states against what he described as the “illusion of appeasement,” saying the emerging balance of power would not be built on weakening Iran-backed groups.
“Diplomatic wishful thinking carries a heavy price – lasting peace grows from a balance of power, not from hollow, unbacked commitments,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left Lebanon for Pakistan on Saturday where he will meet his counterpart Asim Munir, the Lebanese military said, with a source telling AFP the visit is linked to broader Iran-US talks.
In a statement, the army said that Haykal “left Lebanon for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.” A source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Haykal’s visit is “linked to the Pakistani mediation to resolve” issues between the United States and Iran who are negotiating an end to the Middle East regional war. “Lebanon is critical part of the negotiations,” the source added, requesting anonymity.
A Lebanese military source told Al Arabiya that the country’s army officers are undergoing training courses in Pakistan, adding that Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal will discuss Lebanon’s military needs with Islamabad during his visit to Pakistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Saturday urged Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, who had criticised Tehran for interfering in his country, to save Lebanon from its “real foe”.
“Based on Mr. Aoun’s comments, one would think it’s Iran that has occupied 1/5 of Lebanon, displaced 1/4 of Lebanese and bombing his country on daily basis... Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” Araghchi wrote on X.
Araghchi rejected remarks by the Lebanese President that Lebanon was a bargaining chip for Tehran. Aoun said on Friday that Iran was using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States and that Lebanese people were paying the price for Iran’s interests. “Had Lebanon been bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago,” Araghchi posted on X.
A new conditional truce was announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys this week in Washington. It would require Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the Israeli border and would see Lebanon’s army deploy to new “pilot zones” in the area, where it will exercise exclusive control. But Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
US President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to end the Iran war quickly and remove a source of high prices as he campaigned in rural central Wisconsin in a bid to help Republicans keep control of Congress in midterm elections.
The president said progress in negotiations with Iran could come soon, although a deal to end the conflict has been elusive. He urged Wisconsin voters to get energised for the elections.
“We’re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it’s going to be strong one way or the other,” Trump said at a roundtable event in Chippewa Falls.
President Trump said that Iran still has “21, 22 percent” of its missiles left. “They still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22 percent of their missiles,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.
That figure for Iran’s missile stockpile is higher than one of 18 percent Trump gave in May. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran’s war-fighting capacity.
Iran on Saturday denounced as a “tool of political pressure” a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressing concern over its lack of access to Iranian nuclear sites.
“If the agency wants to be part of a diplomatic solution, it must refrain from turning a technical report into a tool of political pressure,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.
In a confidential report seen by AFP on Thursday, the IAEA stated that the lack of access to nuclear sites in Iran constitutes a “proliferation concern”.
The IAEA has never condemned the Israeli-American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Gharibabadi on Saturday said the Israeli-American strikes are “not only a violation of Iran’s sovereignty”, but also “a direct blow to nuclear safety”.
In an interview with IRNA, China’s ambassador to Iran, Cong Peiwu, said that China appreciates Pakistan’s active role in promoting peace in the Middle East, facilitating the temporary ceasefire between Iran and the United States, and hosting the Islamabad talks.
According to IRNA, the Chinese envoy said that US-Israel war against Iran was the violation of international laws. He stressed that all disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. China supports Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security, and will continue its constructive efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.
The ambassador said that China has no self-interest in the region and has always sought to promote peace, stability and development. He added that the negotiation process must continue in order to achieve a lasting ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital route for global trade and energy supplies, and keeping it secure and open is in the interest of the entire world. He said that normal trade activities between Iran and China would not be affected by external pressure. China will not allow any external power to undermine legitimate economic cooperation between the two countries. The international community cannot return to the “law of the jungle,” he said, adding that the recent war between Iran and the United States has demonstrated that the importance of international law and the multilateral system is greater than ever.
The United States announced Friday its approval of a $1.98 billion arms sale to Kuwait, one of the Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes during the Middle East war.
In a statement, the US State Department said it would allow purchases of counter-drone technology from defense company Anduril, which was founded by a supporter of President Donald Trump.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-Nato ally that has been an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East,” the statement said.
Igor Sechin, CEO of Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft ROSN.MM, said on Saturday that China is best prepared for a closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its well-thought-out state policy.
Igor Sechin warned that if the Strait of Hormuz were to be closed, other routes such as the Strait of Malacca, Bab el-Mandeb and Gibraltar could also be at risk.
The United States will make Iranian assets available to Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for future damage caused by Iran, a source familiar said on Saturday. The US will also consider using those assets to support repairs for past damages, the source said, adding that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has directed a team to assess costs for damage already inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran.
The Iran Football Federation is accusing the United States of “vindictive behavior” regarding the refusal of visas for managerial and administrative members of its World Cup traveling party.
Iran’s World Cup squad left Turkiye for Mexico on Saturday, taking off under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington.
IFF said 14 officials and staffers have been refused visas prior to upcoming matches in Inglewood, Calif., and Seattle.
