ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that the final objective in the peace negotiations between Iran and the US is “just about to be achieved” as he urged all sides in the conflict to exercise restraint.
In a post on X, the prime minister said the recent surge in violence in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to.
He said, “As we work earnestly and painstakingly, together with our brothers and partners, to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict, and especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved, we sincerely urge all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance.”
“Let us continue to remain on the path of peace and diplomacy which have bright prospects of success instead of violence and destruction,” the prime minister said.The statement came as Iran and Israel said that hostilities between them had halted, after the two countries exchanged strikes that threatened to reignite the Middle East war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the “fire on that front is contained” hours after Tehran said it had stopped its military action against Israel.Tehran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday over its ongoing war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which prompted Israel to strike back, despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to dissuade Netanyahu from doing so.
That triggered another round of Iranian missiles, before Tehran announced it would cease fire.Iran has sought for weeks to link the wider Middle East truce, in place since April 8, to Israel´s war against Hezbollah, warning that attacks on Lebanon would force it to act.
It said on Monday it would attack again if Israel persisted with its strikes in Lebanon. Netanyahu warned in turn that should Iran “make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force”.
Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz insisted that the campaign in Lebanon would carry on regardless and said Israel would strike the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut in retaliation for each attack on northern Israel by the militant group.
Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, had earlier urged both sides to stop “shooting” and said that “final negotiations” towards peace would proceed “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.”
The Israeli premier, though, said in a televised statement he had told Trump that “Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required”.In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, referring to Netanyahu, Trump insisted he held sway in their relationship. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn´t call the shots,” he said.
In a sign that both sides expected the ceasefire to hold, Israel´s education ministry announced that schools would reopen on Tuesday, having closed because of the missile threat, while Iran´s Civil Aviation Organisation said it was reopening the country´s airspace.
Iran fired nearly 30 missiles at Israel overnight, according to the Israeli military, and Israel responded by targeting military sites in the Islamic republic.No casualties have been reported in either Israel or Iran after the exchange of fire.
Announcing the end of its attacks, Iran´s military command said, “should acts of hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow”.
In a new attack on Monday, an Israeli strike hit a vehicle in the city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, on Monday, Lebanese state media reported. The Red Cross said the strike hit near their centre in the city, wounding four rescuers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had intercepted three projectiles fired from Lebanon,with an AFP journalist near the border seeing three explosions in the air.On Monday in Tehran, there was little sign of any return to war, with cafe terraces packed. Traffic seemed lighter than usual for a weekday, suggesting that some people had stayed home and there were also many more people queueing at petrol stations.
Oil prices surged more than five percent on worries that the war would resume, with hopes now punctured of a rapid end to the standoff that has seen shipments of the Gulf´s oil and gas all but halted through the Strait of Hormuz.The strikes also came at a critical moment for diplomatic efforts to end the conflict involving mediator Pakistan.Iran said that Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the war with the United States were continuing even after fighting resumed with Israel.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei warned at a press conference in Tehran on Monday morning that diplomacy was continuing but could be affected by the fighting.As he was speaking at the foreign ministry, a huge explosion shook the building, followed by repeated explosions believed to be from air defence systems, the AFP reporter said.
He said, “Without a doubt, as I said, the actions of the Zionist regime in the region cannot be separated from US policies.” He added, “No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran to deliver what he said was a “special letter” to Iran´s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Iranian state television. He has since travelled back to Pakistan, an official Pakistani source said on Monday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remained at the negotiating table after halting attacks on Israel following the first exchange of fire since the April truce. “Diplomacy and defence are the two wings of national power; we have neither left the battlefield nor the negotiating table,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X, adding that Tehran “will not retreat in the face of any threat”.
Iran´s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck Israel´s Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases and had also targeted a petrochemical facility in Israel in retaliation for an attack on a similar site in southwestern Iran.
The Guards warned that Israel “has initiated a dangerous game, the scope of which will encompass all energy-related targets in the region”.A military source told the Tasnim news agency that “Iran is prepared for a long-term war with the Zionist regime and for strikes against US interests” in the region.
Yemen´s Iran-backed Houthi rebels meanwhile announced a missile attack on Israel on Monday, the first since early April, and declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea.
China said it was “deeply concerned” by fresh attacks between Israel and Iran, expressing hope that a fragile truce in the Middle East war would be respected.“Resuming hostilities is not in any party´s interest,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing, adding: “It is hoped all relevant parties will fulfil their commitment to a ceasefire.”
The European Union´s top diplomat Kaja Kallas called on both sides to “sit down to a negotiation table and agree”, adding that “the region does not need an escalation.”
Local media in Iran said Monday that a “hostile drone” was shot down over the capital Tehran during the new round of fighting with Israel.
A Lebanese culture ministry official told AFP on Monday that Israeli bombardment had damaged a World Heritage site in the southern city of Tyre, as correspondents there saw debris and damage at the site.
President Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, a White House official told AFP, after the first exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran since an April ceasefire. A White House official confirmed Trump and Netanyahu spoke on Monday without giving further details.
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani said a new security belt of Resistance will be established from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen, and from the Gulf to the Red Sea, according to comments carried by state media. Iranian officials use the term Resistance, or Axis of Resistance to refer to Iranian allies in the region including Yemen’s Houthis.
Iraq reopened its airspace on Monday, the country´s civil aviation body said, following Iran´s announcement that it was halting its military operation against Israel.
A senior Hezbollah official told AFP that the Iran-backed group has had “no direct contact” with President Donald Trump, despite recent statements from the US leader suggesting otherwise.
The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on the spokesman for the naval arm of Iran´s Revolutionary Guards and a regional command over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made a rare public appeal to the Israeli government and people in an interview with CNN aired on Monday, saying a military solution “will never provide you with security and safety” for the people in northern Israel. “We are ready, we are willing, we are committed. Are you? If you are, let’s sit and talk,” said Aoun.
He said he would not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before reaching an agreement to end the war, which he said would be a non-aggression pact and not a full peace deal.
Tehran will turn the naval blockade established by the United States into another defeat for the “enemy”, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a message posted on his Telegram channel on Monday.
“We are not going to either just fight or just negotiate; rather, we are going to fight at our own time and negotiate at our own time”, Qalibaf said, adding, “our goal is the end of the war and stable security and we have no trust towards the opposing party”.
Iranian security forces dismantled four operational cells belonging to what authorities described as Sunni militant groups in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday. Security forces killed five militants and arrested 19 others before they could carry out attacks, the agency cited Iran’s Intelligence Ministry as saying.
Qatari prime minister and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi discussed mediation efforts between Iran and the US and latest developments in Lebanon.
The Strait of Hormuz will be open but under new conditions to be set by Iran and Oman, including a transit fee, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow was quoted as saying on Monday.
US forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, the US military said.
The tanker had 24 Indian crew members on board, India’s shipping ministry said, adding that a fire had been reported on the vessel but that all were safe.
Polish authorities said Monday they had seized over a tonne of heroin from Iran, hidden in a shipment of decorative bricks, at the Baltic port of Gdynia. “This is the largest operation of its kind in over a decade,” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said at a press conference.
The United States is demanding Iran provide “precise” information on its enriched uranium stockpile and give the UN nuclear agency access “without delay”, according to a draft resolution seen by AFP on Monday.
The draft resolution is expected to be submitted for a vote this week to the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that started meeting on Monday.To be passed, the draft resolution needs to be submitted and approved by the 35-member IAEA board of governors.
In a press conference after opening the board of governors´ meeting, IAEA head Rafael Grossi said he had “sporadic contacts with the foreign minister (of Iran) and others, but basically the channel of communication is broken”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Judiciary said it has launched legal proceedings against 3,121 people for cooperating with the enemy, adding that more than 2,000 of the individuals have been detained. Speaking at a public gathering on Sunday, the Judiciary’s spokesman who is also the body’s deputy for crime prevention, Asghar Jahangir, said those under prosecution are “traitors to the homeland and mercenaries” who collaborated with the enemy.
The Embassy of India in Tehran has advised all Indian nationals to avoid travel to Iran and urged those currently in the country to leave immediately using available means of transport. The advisory comes amid escalating regional tensions and security concerns in the region, media reported.
