Pakistan explores path to new US-Iran peace talks

Pakistan is exploring a path towards a resumption of stalled US-Iran talks over ending their nearly five-month-old war, three Pakistani sources said, following a push initiated by China.

Exploratory discussions took place during a visit by Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Islamabad this week - his second within the last 10 days, the sources said.

Mr Momeni, who is considered close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, met with Pakistani government leaders and army chief Asim Munir this week, according to Pakistani government statements.

All three sources cautioned that the obstacles to any talks with the US remain high.

Hormuz closure hitting China

Pakistan has found itself in an increasingly complicated situation as a potential future mediator.

Earlier this week, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Islamabad that signed a mutual defence treaty with Pakistan last year.

Pakistan relies on Saudi financial support, and Islamabad has firmly condemned recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Being seen as too receptive to Iranian arguments could risk frustrating Riyadh.

But Islamabad is similarly dependent on Beijing, which has also been a key financial backer of Islamabad, and which has economic interests in finding a diplomatic solution to reopening key Middle Eastern trade routes.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, also discussed the new Middle East effort with Chinese officials when he visited China last week, all three Pakistani sources said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the issue publicly.

"The Chinese are unhappy because Iran's attacks on other Gulf states and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are hitting their interests," a Pakistani government official said. Disruptions in the Red Sea would hit another key trade route Beijing relies on.

Mr Dar and the Pakistani military's public relations wing did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement, China's foreign ministry said "China supports the mediation efforts made by Pakistan and other parties."

It added that China will continue to "play an active role in restoring peace and tranquillity in the Middle East Gulf region as soon as possible".

Halt in attacks needed - official

Beijing is Iran's largest trading partner and primary buyer of its exported crude oil despite international sanctions on Tehran, benefiting from a steep discount on the energy source.

Over the years, China has also increased support for Iran's security through dual‐use components, chip equipment and satellite navigation systems, even though China has not overtly provided military aid to Iran since the war began.

Beijing has consistently backed Pakistan's mediation efforts and had in March dispatched its special envoy to lead a shuttle-diplomacy trip around the Middle East.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June to move towards ending the war after mediation by Pakistan and Qatar. It was intended to provide a 60-day window for negotiations on a permanent agreement.

But indirect ⁠talks yielded no progress. Both sides blamed each other for violations, and the conflict resumed.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has warned China and Russia against selling weapons to Iran, saying he believed assurances from Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin that they were not yet doing so.

"Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating," Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network.

"If they did, it would be very bad for them - Certainly not in their best interests."

US strikes Iran as Trump vows 'punishment' over Red Sea

US missiles have hit targets across Iran, reaching as far as its Caspian coast, after President Donald Trump vowed "major military punishment" for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen.

Two weeks after the collapse of an interim truce meant to end the war, the Iranian armed forces responded by firing at US bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning people there that they may strike non-military buildings used by US personnel.

The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, have announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The entrance to the Gulf has so far been the focus of a war that has killed thousands in almost five months, stoked global inflation and fanned fears of an economic downturn.

Red Sea attacks affect markets

Houthi fighters struck two Saudi tankers on Thursday in the Red Sea's Bab el-Mandeb strait, boosting oil prices 7% to top $100 per barrel for the first time since May.

Although Brent futures eased almost 3% to under $98, the contract remained on course for an advance of over 10% this week.

The attacks forced several other tankers to turn around and head north through the Suez Canal, potentially using a much longer and more expensive route to reach Asia by sailing around Africa.

Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, sources said.

Still, half of the 18 ships exiting Bab el-Mandeb on Thursday were carrying crude oil, including two Chinese supertankers. The number of tankers crossing through the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, the lowest since 7 May.

Mr Trump wrote on social media that he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by Yemeni fighters, "and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves".

He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat against Iran. "They haven't received enough pain yet," the US news outlet quoted him as saying.

Iranian state media said missiles had struck Qeshm Island on the Strait of Hormuz.

In an example of how shipping disruptions from the war affect other nations, Coca-Cola has raised prices in India of Diet Coke - which is sold there mostly in aluminum cans - by more than 10% as the conflict chokes its supply chain, sources said.

Iran warns Gulf states of more attacks

The Iranian army said it had attacked US military equipment depots at Al-Adiri, officially named Camp Buehring, in northern Kuwait, and the positions of US troops at Camp Arifjan and at Camp Doha, near Kuwait City.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had significantly damaged a surveillance tower used by the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

They also said they had attacked a US barracks and fighter jets in Jordan, and a US barracks and spy balloon as well as Patriot air defences in Erbil in Iraq's Kurdish region, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Jordan's army said it had downed seven Iranian missiles and six drones, state TV reported, and that the attack had caused no material damage or casualties.

There was no immediate comment from US Central Command (CENTCOM).

US missiles struck a Revolutionary Guards Navy headquarters in the Ziba Kenar area of the Caspian Sea province of Gilan, according to a security official in Gilan quoted by Iranian media.

Provincial authorities said US projectiles had also struck the port city of Bandar Anzali, according to the ILNA news agency.

Four people were killed and five injured in a US attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, the state broadcaster IRIB said.

In a statement carried by Iran's Fars news agency, the Revolutionary Guards warned the populations of Gulf countries of potential strikes against US military personnel who may be using "buildings in cities as locations to direct their crimes".

It told people to "immediately move away from areas within a 500-metre radius of covert and hidden locations used by US military personnel".

Since the US and Israel began the war in February, Iran has demonstrated that it can hit US targets in the region, despite Mr Trump having said that the US had wiped out its military capabilities.

Four people familiar with US intelligence said Iranian strikes on CIA targets in the Gulf earlier in the war had prompted US intelligence to investigate whether Russia was assisting Iran with targeting information or drone technology.

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment on the report.

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