TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Israel’s attacks during last month’s 12-day war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic’s system and spark unrest to topple it.

“The calculation and plan of the aggressors was to weaken the system by targeting certain figures and sensitive centres in Iran,” said Khamenei during a meeting with judiciary officials.

During the meeting, excerpts of which were published in videos on his website, he said the move was meant to stir “unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system”.

Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran on June 13, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Trump says would bomb Iran again if nuclear activities start

Iranian authorities said more than 1,000 people were killed in Iran.

During the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that the Israeli strikes “certainly could” bring about a change in the Iranian system.

“The Iranian regime is very weak,” he said during the interview on June 15.

Iran responded to the Israeli attacks with drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to Israeli authorities.

On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

Iran hit back with missile strikes on US Al-Udaid airbase in Qatar, which Khamenei described on Wednesday as a “big blow” to the US and warned that “even greater strikes can be dealt to the US and others.”

A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.

Israel’s attacks took place two days before Iran and the United States were scheduled to meet for a sixth round of nuclear talks which had begun on April 12.

The talks have not since resumed.

Tehran has reiterated that it remains open to diplomacy provided that Washington offers guarantees it will not resort to military action against the Islamic republic.

On Wednesday, Iran’s parliament ruled out negotiations without meeting certain “preconditions”, not giving specifics.

Khamenei said Iranian diplomats and the military should exercise “care and precision” in the path ahead, without elaborating.

“Whether we enter the field of diplomacy or the military arena… we will enter from a position of strength.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan seeks a relationship of peace and stability with all its neighbours. Islamabad remains steadfast in its commitment to the ceasefire and the cultivation of a stable regional equilibrium. However, we cannot accept that the arbitrary use of force is normalised.

“We believe that disputes and differences are resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, instead of conflict and coercion. In that backdrop, initiation of a comprehensive and structured dialogue can meaningfully address the full spectrum of issues that have long bedevilled the peace and security in South Asia.

Strict adherence to bilateral agreements would be equally important in this regard.“ Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stated this while addressing the Meeting of SCO Council of Foreign Ministers 15 July 2025–Tianjin, China on Tuesday.

Iran has right to defend itself, Dar tells OIC

However, he said the last three months witnessed extremely disturbing developments in South Asia. It is most unfortunate that the attribution of the Pahalgam attack to Pakistan – without a credible investigation or verifiable evidence –brought the two nuclear-armed states to the brink of a major conflict.

In the wake of mounting tensions, Dar pointed out Pakistan’s restrained and responsible approach was met with legal transgressions, rhetorical belligerence, and strategic recklessness.

The events unfolding since 22 April 2025 also reaffirm a central truth of South Asian geopolitics: the peaceful settlement of the longstanding unresolved disputes is imperative for an enduring peace in the region, Dar added.

Dar said Pakistan appreciates China’s deep-rooted commitment to multilateralism and its role in strengthening SCO as the Chair this year. In our pursuit to peace and security, he highlighted we believe in non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs; non-use of force or threat of its use in international relations, as well as seeking no unilateral military superiority in the region.

We emphasize on resolution of longstanding disputes through peaceful means, dialogue, diplomacy and according to the principles of international law, justice and fairness. We are seriously concerned at the trends of using aggression as a tool of policy.

We have strongly condemned the unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Such illegal actions directed against SCO member states are unacceptable.

Israel has shown a reckless disregard for international norms and humanity through its relentless and disproportionate use of force in Gaza resulting in the death of tens of thousands of civilians causing the worst humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We call for immediate halt to Israel’s atrocities. The only viable remedy to Palestine dispute is the realization of two-State solution which includes the establishment of Palestine as a viable, secure and contiguous State on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al Quds as its capital.

Unilateral and illegal measures to change the status of disputed territories in violation of UN Security Council resolutions must be strongly condemned and opposed by all.

Enduring peace and stability in Afghanistan constitute a cornerstone of our shared aspiration. In this context, the revival of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group could serve as a valuable platform for pragmatic and results-oriented cooperation, he asserted.

As the permanent chair of the SCO’s Special Working Group dedicated to combating poverty, Pakistan is fully committed to providing the necessary momentum to our collaborative endeavours to address poverty.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

DALLAS, US: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has stated that there is no pressure from the US on Pakistan to recognise Israel.

Speaking at an event here, the ambassador reaffirmed that Pakistan’s policy on Israel is firmly rooted in the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. “There is absolutely no pressure from the US regarding recognition of Israel.”

Ambassador Sheikh also highlighted improving bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US, adding that Pakistan has abundant electricity resources available to support investments in cryptocurrency mining and related technologies.

ME situation: Rubio telephones PM

Commenting on bilateral ties, he said Pakistan-US relations are improving and that both countries are working to strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade, energy and technology.

About investment opportunities, he pointed out that Pakistan has ample electricity reserves to support ventures like cryptocurrency mining — a sector gaining attention in the global digital economy.

Pakistan officially commenced the drafting of a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital and virtual assets last month.

In the recent Iran-Israel conflict the Islamic Republic of Iran was able to withstand the combined onslaughts by the two bullies. Israel was the un-disputed bully of the Middle East while the USA holds international ranking in this field. There were major security breaches, but the people were able to defend themselves.

The government could not be toppled as there was no enemy within. Iran’s Missile Technology and the resilience of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards prevailed against all odds.

Unfortunately, in most Islamic countries there are both internal and external enemies which must be balanced out for common good. There are vested interests that strike from within to weaken the nation. Iran as a country has suffered heavily on this count. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister (PM) of the Iranian Republic in 1951.

When he decided to nationalize the British owned Anglo Persian Oil Company together with the Abadan Refinery the West came after him. The then PM of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan was asked to intervene but on his refusal, he was assassinated followed by the removal of the Iranian PM. There was a military coup in 1953, Mosaddegh was captured and imprisoned. Reza Shah Pahalvi was installed as the Shah of Iran who ruled with an iron hand as an agent of the Western powers.

Finally, Shah was toppled in an Islamic Revolution led by Imam Ruhullah Khomeni in the year 1979 thus ending royal dominance of Kings and Monarchs for all times to come. After Israel today Iran is the only democratic country in the Middle East (ME).

Elections are regularly held for the Majlis and the President, but candidates must be cleared by a council of elders to stop undesirables from entering the corridors of power. In 1953, the enemy within succeeded in regime change but in 2025 it failed despite the massive external support.

When the US decided to enter WW II (World War II) the balance tilted in favour of the allied forces. General Dwight D. Eisenhower played a key role in the war. Finally, after the fall of Berlin, the hostilities came to an end and the victorious forces went home to a hero’s welcome.

The heat of popularity of the men in uniform was felt by the civilian quarters. Very thoughtfully it was decided to include the Generals in the mainstream of politics. In the year 1953 Eishenhower was elected the 34th President. He completed his two terms in office and went home in 1961.

As head of state, he strengthened the democratic process and was very sensitive to the emerging power of the Military-Industrial Complex. His exploits in the battlefield and in the corridors of civilian authority are revered till today, he remained loyal to both.

As a General he led the men in uniform, as President he served the people to the best of his abilities. Richard Nixon served under him as Vice President. In his second term of office as President when Nixon was facing impeachment by the Congress, the Chief of Staff of the White House General Alexander Haig advised the President to declare emergency as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and send the Congressmen home. Instead, Nixon decided to resign and go home to save the democratic order.

General Mustafa Kemal, a graduate of Ottoman Military College, led the Ottoman forces to victory against the Allied Forces in the battle of Gallipoli in 1916. At the peak of his popularity after the victorious campaign he was given the title of Ataturk (Father of the Turks). He then founded the Turkish Republic and remained President till his death in the year 1938. In his constitution he gave the Armed Forces an upper hand to take control of the country at will. The Ottoman Empire was dismembered.

Turkey remained a ‘sick man of Europe’ under the hybrid system introduced by the General. Finally, there was resurgence of civilian authority led by Recep Tayyib Erdogan. His Justice and Development Party first took control of Istanbul in 1994.

There was no looking back. He turned around the historic city of Istanbul. Based on his performance he was elected Prime Minister (PM) and then President. To restore civilian authority, he introduced constitutional amendments to end the role of the Armed Forces in running the country. Those who resisted were dealt with. In July 2016 a military coup was attempted to topple the civilian government but the brave people of Turkey took to the streets to block the takeover.

As President, Erdogan decided to change the name of the Republic from Turkey to Turkiye. Today the country is a constitutional democracy under civilian control where religion and modernization have been balanced. Since 1994 till today the country has been turned around and continues to prosper.

In US it is widely believed that there must be an enemy for direction and build-up. In the decade of the fifties the Soviet Union was declared an ‘Evil Empire’. The focus of the nation was to bring it down. Finally, after the collapse of the mighty Socialist Empire (1922 to 1991) the target moved towards Islamic Fundamentalism. It was called the clash of civilizations. The entire Islamic World has suffered because of this phobia.

Israeli Armed Forces are built around territorial integrity/expansion. Generals after retirement follow the democratic order to serve in civilian capacity. The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks resurgence of Islam. It is perhaps the only Islamic country that believes that Israel has no right to exist while others have reconciled to the idea of two states (Israel, Palestine). Iran prepared itself to take on the enemy.

As ground war not possible they used technology to face their foe. Their missiles were able to penetrate the Israeli defences. Israel and then USA were able to bomb Iran by flying over neighbourly countries. I am sure some lessons have been learnt to develop better air cover and not to trust Indians.

Pakistan decided to build the nuclear device after the break-up of the country in the year 1971. Technology is a key component of our defences. Originally, the plan was to reduce the size of the troops and rely more on the technological strength.

Unfortunately, it has not happened. Nation’s resources have been consumed by both. It is time to reevaluate priorities. Traditional defence paradigms have now become obsolete. Enemy must be targeted and dealt with. For Iran, Israel is the enemy. It is prepared to take it on. Despite all its under-hand tricks and external support Israel had to bite the dust in the recent war.

The regime in Tehran has not only survived it has come out stronger.

For Israel it’s beginning of the end starting with creation of a Palestinian state. The message is loud and clear, know thy enemy both internal and external to thwart its evil designs. Force must have clear direction to be beneficial in meeting national objectives otherwise it can become a menace.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Diplomatic optics don’t usually favour countries still dancing around the possibility of sovereign default. And yet here we are — on an IMF lifeline, with next to no foreign exchange cover and a political setup too timid to lead — watching Pakistan make a sustained play on the global stage with more success than many would care to admit.

Just this week, the Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, Lieutenant General Wang Gang, visited Air Headquarters in Islamabad and praised the Pakistan Air Force’s performance in the recent war with India as “a textbook example of precision, discipline, and courage” in the face of unprovoked aggression.

This came within days of Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House — an unusually high-profile one-on-one between a Pakistani military leader and an American president. Trump praised Pakistan’s efforts to de-escalate the recent war with India and said progress was also being made on the trade front.

The meeting stood in sharp contrast to India’s heavily publicised diplomatic visit a little earlier which climaxed with a photo op with Vice President JD Vance – no White House invite. And the balancing act didn’t end there. China’s warmth and America’s unexpected openness followed the widely reported, if not officially confirmed, suggestion that Pakistan played a quiet but effective part in brokering a ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war.

The claim — originating in Middle Eastern press — gained traction after both sides stood down with minimal external mediation, and with Islamabad condemning Israeli actions while carefully steering clear of antagonising Washington. Even if indirect, the timing raised eyebrows.

This is not how struggling economies typically behave. And yet, Pakistan has managed to follow a tactical military victory — against a rival more than five times its size — with a flurry of effective diplomacy. Its post-war outreach, particularly with multilateral groups, has also delivered. India’s push to include its version of the Pahalgam attack in final communiqués at SCO, BRICS, and QUAD summits was unsuccessful, which in diplomatic terms is a win for Pakistan — especially since silence, in such venues, rarely comes without consensus.

Some might call it luck. Others, opportunism. But for anyone paying attention, a more plausible explanation lies in the state’s real command structure. If — as everybody knows — the fountainhead of Pakistani policymaking in this Islamic Republic remains its military high command, then it is worth analysing how it has played its cards in one of the most delicate moments in the country’s modern history.

Because there is no elected civilian consensus on foreign policy. There is barely a functioning civilian apparatus at all. No parliamentarian spoke of recalibrating alliances after the Iran-Israel war. No elected representative gave a vision for how to manage the US-China rivalry. Yet the Pakistan army has somehow positioned the country in a rare space where both Washington and Beijing are listening.

It may not follow any diplomatic playbook, but it is delivering the strangest results. And in power politics, showing up — consistently, visibly — often matters more than protocol. Make what you will of that.

Of course, there is something unnerving about all this. A country with no money, weak institutions, and a paralysed political structure has no business threading needles between competing superpowers. And yet, it is doing just that — with surprising nerve.

To be fair, some of this is circumstantial. The global environment is fractured. The US-China trade war is escalating again, disrupting supply chains, rattling financial markets, and inching toward a phase where countries may be forced to take sides. The Middle East remains unsettled. And many capitals are searching for stable diplomatic anchors in an increasingly unpredictable order. Pakistan, for all its internal contradictions, is at least projecting coherence on the world stage — even if that coherence wears military uniform.

But hedging is not a long-term strategy. At some point, someone will demand clarity. A pledge. A pivot. And when that moment comes, it will test not just Pakistan’s strategic balance, but its internal stability as well. Because hedging between powers is a luxury when you are solvent. When you’re not, it becomes a risk you cannot afford to miscalculate. And we need both Chinese and American money to stay afloat.

Until then, this is where we are: punching above our weight while still hooked up to the financial equivalent of a ventilator. And whatever else one might say about the structure that has enabled it — from shadow policymaking to absent civilian leadership — there is something undeniably impressive about the sheer audacity of it all.

After all, in a year when even major powers are floundering to maintain their alliances, Pakistan has somehow emerged as a case study in diplomatic over-achievement.

Whether it’s sustainable, sensible, or simply absurd, depends on where — and when — you’re standing.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

TEL AVIV: An Israeli military official said on Tuesday that Iranian air strikes last month had hit some Israeli military sites, the first such apparent public acknowledgement that such locations had been struck.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military briefing rules, said that “very few” sites had been hit and that they remained functional.

The official declined to provide further details, including identifying which military locations were affected or how severe the damage was to military infrastructure. Iran carried out waves of air strikes against Israel last month after Israel launched a surprise attack on June 13, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and missile arsenal.

The Iranian strikes frequently targeted densely populated cities Tel Aviv and Haifa, and the country’s south around Beersheba, where there are a number of military facilities.

Several residential buildings were hit in the attacks, although the Israeli military says that most incoming missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted during the 12-day war.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory this year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented a “difficult morning” as he visited Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, who is pressing for a ceasefire in the more than 21-month war.

“All of Israel bows its head and mourns the fall of our heroic soldiers, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages,” Netanyahu posted on X.

The five soldiers aged between 20 and 28 “fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip”, the Israeli military said.

Two others were severely wounded and “evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment”, it said, adding their families had been notified.

Israeli military correspondents reported the deaths occurred when improvised explosive devices detonated in the area of Beit Hanun in the north of the territory.

During attempts to evacuate the wounded, soldiers reportedly came under fire.

“The unbearable news of the fall of five heroic sons in Gaza – most of them fighters of the ultra-Orthodox ‘Netzach Yehuda’ battalion – pierces the heart,” President Isaac Herzog posted on X.

“For the sake of the fighters, for the sake of their families, for the sake of the hostages, for the sake of the State of Israel: this war must be ended,” opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote.

‘No breakthrough’

The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives of Israel and Palestinian group Hamas seated in different rooms in the same building.

Monday’s session ended with “no breakthrough”, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

The Hamas and Israeli delegations were due to resume talks, with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff also set to join them this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire.

Israel says missile launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘most likely’ intercepted

The US proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages, taken during its October 2023 attack on Israel, and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel, Palestinian sources have said.

Hamas was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system, the sources close to the discussions told AFP.

At least 445 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, according to an AFP tally.

The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,523 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN considers the figures reliable.

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Deputy Chief Dr Osama Razi has warned that the "Greater Israel" agenda is a major threat to the stability of Pakistan and the wider Muslim world. He made the remarks while addressing a day-long party convention in Karachi’s Gadap area on Monday evening, as part of a series of similar events held across the city.

Dr Osama Razi pointed to US-backed Israeli aggression against Iran and India’s hostility towards Pakistan as examples of this broader agenda. He said both military campaigns failed in their objectives by the grace of Allah Almighty, but emphasized that the underlying threat remains.

He noted that regional geopolitics is now closely tied to domestic affairs, urging Islamic movements to remain alert and develop strategic responses in line with this reality. He also called on JI workers to strengthen their spiritual connection with Allah, calling it the only sustainable path in these challenging times.

Dr Razi warned that a concerted effort was underway to destabilize Balochistan, comparing it to the events that led to the fall of East Pakistan. He also condemned Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza and criticized the lack of freedom to protest in Pakistan.

“Protests against Israeli genocide can be held in the British parliament and outside the Prime Minister’s residence in London, but such voices are silenced in Islamabad—even within our own parliament,” he said.

He reminded participants that Pakistan’s Constitution clearly states that sovereignty belongs to Allah Almighty, and urged citizens to play their role in defending constitutional and Islamic values.

JI Deputy Chief Dr Attaur Rehman, speaking at the same convention, described the Quran as a revolutionary guide against social injustice. He called for spiritual purification and reflection on Quranic teachings, saying that true peace would only come through an Islamic caliphate.

JI Deputy Secretary General Muhammad Usman Farooq highlighted Karachi’s worsening civic problems, including water shortages, power outages, broken infrastructure, and the burden of inflation and over-taxation. He urged citizens to raise their voices and support JI’s rights movement.

Other speakers included Dr Wasay Shakir, Taufiquddin Siddiqui, and Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui, who emphasized Islamic unity, civil rights, and public empowerment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

WASHINGTON: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he believes Iran can resolve its differences with the United States through dialogue, but trust would be an issue after U.S. and Israeli attacks on his country, according to an interview released on Monday.

“I am of the belief that we could very much easily resolve our differences and conflicts with the United States through dialogue and talks,” Pezeshkian told conservative U.S. podcaster Tucker Carlson in an interview conducted on Saturday.

The Iranian leader urged U.S. President Donald Trump not to be drawn into war with Iran by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Washington on Monday for talks at the White House.

“The United States’ president, Mr. Trump, he is capable enough to guide the region towards the peace and a brighter future and put Israel in its place. Or get into a pit, an endless pit, or a swamp,” Pezeshkian said. “So it is up to the United States president to choose which path.”

He blamed Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy, for the collapse of talks that were in place when Israel began its strikes on Iran on June 13, starting a 12-day air war with Israel in which top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists were killed.

Iran’s new foreign minister calls for EU dialogue

“How are we going to trust the United States again?” Pezeshkian said. “How can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”

Pezeshkian also said that Israel tried to assassinate him.

“They did try, yes,” he said. “They acted accordingly, but they failed.”

Israel did not immediately respond to the allegation. A senior Israeli military official said last month that Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists in its attack on to Iran’s nuclear sites.

Trump said he expected to discuss Iran and its nuclear ambitions with Netanyahu, praising the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as a tremendous success. On Friday, he told reporters that he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently, although Iran could restart efforts elsewhere.

Iran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon.

ADEN/CAIRO: Israel has attacked Houthi targets in three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the Israeli military said early on Monday, marking the first Israeli attack on Yemen in almost a month.

The strikes on Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif ports, and Ras Qantib power plant were due to repeated Houthi attacks on Israel, the military added.

Hours after the strikes, the Israeli military said two missiles were launched from Yemen and attempts were made to intercept them, but the results of interception were still under review.

The Israeli ambulance service said it had not received any calls regarding missile impacts or casualties following the launches from Yemen.

Israeli military says intercepted missile launched from Yemen

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have fired at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade, in what it says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones fired toward Israel have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.

Israel also attacked Galaxy Leader ship in Ras Isa port, which was seized by Houthis in late 2023, the military added on Monday.

“The Houthi terrorist regime’s forces installed a radar system on the ship, and are using it to track vessels in international maritime space, in order to promote the Houthi terrorist regime’s activities,” the military said.

The Houthi military spokesperson said following the attacks that Houthis’ air defences confronted the Israeli attack ‘by using a large number of domestically produced surface-to-air missiles’.

Residents told Reuters that the Israeli strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah put the main power station out of service, leaving the city in darkness.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israel launched a series of strikes on Hodeidah, shortly after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for people at the three Yemeni ports.

The assault comes hours after a ship was attacked off of Hodeidah and the ship’s crew abandoned it as it took on water.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but security firm Ambrey said the vessel fits the typical profile of a Houthi target.

Israel has severely hurt other allies of Iran in the region - Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Tehran-backed Houthis and pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq are still standing.

The group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, created the force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals.

Under the direction of al-Houthi, the group has grown into an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired armed drones and ballistic missiles.

Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran, though Tehran denies this.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed his discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday would help advance talks on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal that Israeli negotiators resumed in Qatar on Sunday.

Israeli negotiators taking part in the ceasefire talks have clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted, Netanyahu said on Sunday before boarding his flight to Washington.

“I believe the discussion with President Trump can certainly help advance these results,” he said, adding that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel.

It will be Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.

Public pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. Others, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, have expressed support.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit”, a few days after Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were “not acceptable to Israel”. However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to “continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to”.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

Netanyahu said he believed he and Trump would also build on the outcome of the 12-day air war with Iran last month and seek to further ensure that Tehran never has a nuclear weapon. He said recent Middle East developments had created an opportunity to widen the circle of peace.

Hostages

On Saturday evening, crowds gathered at a public square in Tel Aviv near the defence ministry headquarters to call for a ceasefire deal and the return of around 50 hostages still held in Gaza.

The demonstrators waved Israeli flags, chanted and carried posters with photos of the hostages.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins.

Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are set to resume on Sunday in Doha for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Netanyahu had earlier announced he was sending a team to Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict, though he said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire deal contained “unacceptable” demands.

Under mounting pressure to end Israeli aggression, now approaching its 22nd month, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet on Monday with US President Donald Trump, who has been making a renewed push to end the fighting.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks and close to Hamas said international mediators had informed the group that “a new round of indirect negotiations… will begin in Doha today”.

The talks would focus on conditions for a possible ceasefire, including hostage and prisoner releases, and Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded, the official told AFP.

Hamas’s delegation, led by its top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, was in Doha, the official told AFP. Israel’s public broadcaster said the country’s delegation had left for the Qatari capital in the early afternoon.

Hamas says ready to start Gaza ceasefire talks ‘immediately’

Netanyahu met Israeli President Isaac Herzog for talks on Gaza and efforts to expand ties with Arab states before his departure for the United States at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT).

In Tel Aviv on Saturday, protesters gathered for a weekly rally demanding the return of hostages held in Gaza.

Macabit Mayer, the aunt of captives Gali and Ziv Berman, called for a deal “that saves everyone”.

‘Enough’

Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.

On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency said 14 people were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.

Gaza civil defence says 32 killed in Israeli operations

The agency said 10 were killed in a pre-dawn strike on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radawn neighbourhood, where AFP images showed Palestinians searching through the rubble for survivors with their bare hands.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.

Sheikh Radawn resident Osama al-Hanawi told AFP: “The rest of the family is still under the rubble.”

“We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now. Enough blood has been shed.”

Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire.

‘Dying for flour’

Israeli aggression has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.

Karima al-Ras, from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, said “we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid.

“People are dying for flour,” she said.

A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

The UN human rights office said more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.

Israel has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

KHANKENDI (Azerbaijan): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met with President of Iran Dr Masoud Pezeshkian wherein he reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with the people and Government of Iran.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of 17th ECO Summit in Khankendi city of Azerbaijan, the PM reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment to continue working closely with Iran for peace in the region through dialogue and diplomacy.

During the meeting, both leaders reviewed the ongoing bilateral cooperation across all areas and expressed satisfaction over the progress made on decisions taken during their last meeting for further strengthening of Pakistan-Iran relations.

The two leaders also discussed the evolving regional situation in the wake of the Israel’s illegitimate aggression against Iran.

PM Shehbaz appreciated President Pezeshkian’s leadership and lauded Iran’s decision to reach a ceasefire during recent crisis.

President Pezeshkian appreciated Pakistan’s strong diplomatic support to Iran, including at the international forums, during the crisis and thanked him for Pakistan’s vital role in de-escalating the conflict.

VIENNA: UN nuclear watchdog inspectors left Iran on Friday, according to the agency, which called for the resumption of its “indispensable monitoring” after the Islamic republic officially suspended its cooperation.

The suspension came after last month’s 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and escalated tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said in a post on X.

“IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” it added.

Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday.

On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend the cooperation.

The law aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with a particular focus on uranium enrichment, according to Iranian media.

Washington, which has been pressing Tehran to resume the negotiations that were interrupted by Israel’s resort to military action on June 13, has hit out at the Iranian decision, calling it “unacceptable”.

KHANKENDI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday urged the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states to deepen collaboration in response to the pressing regional and global challenges, particularly climate change and geopolitical instability.

Addressing 17th ECO Summit, the prime minister underscored the urgent need for collective action as ECO member states struggle with the severe consequences of climate change, from melting glaciers and desertification to extreme weather events and declining agricultural productivity.

“These challenges threaten the food security and livelihoods of millions. Pakistan remains among the top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change,” he said, recalling the catastrophic 2022 floods that displaced over 33 million people in Pakistan.

PM Shehbaz departs for Azerbaijan to attend ECO summit

Just last week, he said several lives were tragically lost in the affected districts of Pakistan. “Pakistan on its part has undertaken a series of climate related policy initiatives and is aggressively pursuing of 4F plans focusing on resilience, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction,” he added.

The prime minister said in this regard Pakistan proposed the development of low emissions corridors and regional disaster resilience system.

“A dedicated framework to mobilize climate finance along with regional clean energy corridors and eco-tourism initiatives can further drive inclusive sustainable growth creating green jobs, especially for youth and women and supporting livelihoods,” he said.

Condemning the Israel’s recent strike on Iran, the prime minister called it “unlawful, unjustified and uncalled for,” and expressed deep condolences to the Iranian people.

“Pakistan strongly condemns this act of Israeli aggression… We pray for a speedy recovery of our injured brothers and sisters in Iran.”

Furthermore, he said the unprovoked and reckless Indian hostility directed towards Pakistan after an unfortunate incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) was yet another attempt to destabilize regional peace.

“The world witnessed the steadfast resolve of our valiant Armed Forces under the leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir,” the prime minister said.

He also appreciated the support and solidarity extended to Pakistan by the brotherly ECO members states in the aftermath of Indian aggression earlier this year.

He strongly condemned the Israel’s barbarism in Gaza saying “Pakistan stands firmly against those who perpetrated barbaric act against innocent people anywhere in the world whether in Gaza or IIOJK or Iran”.

The prime minister also drew attention to what he called the “weaponization of water” by India, referencing New Delhi’s violations of the Indus Waters Treaty and the recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

“This violation is completely unacceptable. The Indus waters are a lifeline for Pakistan’s 240 million people. India’s actions amount to aggression.”

LAHORE: Governor Punjab Sardar Saleem Haider Khan stated that the unity and solidarity of the Muslim Ummah is crucial in countering efforts to destabilize Islamic countries.

He made these remarks during a meeting with Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehran Mowahid Far, at the Iranian Consulate in Lahore. The governor offered “fateha” for those martyred in the Israeli aggression and paid tribute to the martyrs.

The Iranian Consul General thanked the Pakistani government and nation for their support against the Israeli aggression. He also expressed his condolences over the loss of precious human lives due to the recent rains and floods. “Pakistan has a deep bond of love with Iran and the relations between the two countries are rooted in shared religion, culture and history,” he said and emphasized to boost trade relations between Pakistan and Iran.

He expressed his determination to take the bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran to new heights. He added that Pakistan has always raised its voice for the sovereignty and geographical integrity of Islamic countries at every forum on the global level.

The governor commended Iran’s befitting response to Israeli aggression demonstrating its determination and resilience.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

The Israeli regime led by Benjamin Netanyahu can be easily described as coward for eagerly agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran on one hand, and stepping up its belligerence against the besieged, traumatized, unarmed and homeless population of Gaza, on the other.

The Zionist regime’s cowardice can be explained, for example, by its yesterday’s action of killing 25 Gazans, including 12 in an air strike on a school sheltering Palestinians displaced by the ongoing Israeli onslaught. Piqued by its defeat at the hands of valiant Iranians, Tel Aviv is now adding to its war crimes with a view to overcoming the humiliation that it suffered on account of missile attacks from Iran on its major installations recently.

Needless to say, Israel’s war machinery has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians since October 7 2023. Ninety percent of Gaza’s schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks, including airstrikes, shelling, burning and controlled demolitions. No doubt, Israeli war crimes are clear and blatant violations of international criminal law, including crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide.

How ironic, however, it is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League (AL) have reduced themselves into mere debating clubs as neither has done anything to help end the plight of battered and brutalized Palestinians so far.

Anam Daniyal (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Fasten your seat belts. Americans (and the world) are in for a roller coaster ride that would envy even Disneyland. They are witnessing the advent, in real time, of Make America Great Again. The slogan is the vision, and the objective is a new no-holds-barred United States of America.

Donald J Trump may sound mercurial and whimsical, but actually his words, comments, and deeds are neither farcical nor shooting from the hip. His constituency is the humongous crowd of conservatives, rednecks, and fundamentalists all over the fifty states. He has his agenda well-choreographed and researched. He is in no mood to deviate from his game plan no matter what the world thinks of him.

The world will hee and haw, but the world is not his stage. He had in the past proved his forte when he hosted the TV series “Apprentice”. Neither are those Americans who vent their frustration through caricatures, cuss words, memes, and jokes on talk shows. These Americans, taking advantage of the First Amendment, can beat their chests, pull their hairs, and emit their anger and dissent, but let’s face it: Trump is here to stay for four years. The party has just begun.

POTUS took the world by storm from the moment he took the oath as Number 47. He audaciously demanded that Canada join the Union as 51st State and warned Mexico to bow to his terms. Then he went after Greenland. Of course, all three plans are on the backburner because he switched to tackle the immigration issue.

Out with undocumented immigrants, he roared. The US Supreme Court endorsed his demand. Yes, time to clean up despite the fact that a lot many immigrants were working on farms in rural America and many others were gainfully employed as gardeners, cooks, factory workers, and in the construction sector, to name a few. He is dead against granting birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court judgement in his favor has bolstered his campaign. At the same time, he pronounced the edict that visa applicants from over a dozen countries should not take the trouble to apply for US visas. They can visit Ulan Bator or Timbuktu for all he cared.

Trump also went after countries exporting billions to the USA. He came up with arbitrary imposition of import duties, which nearly disrupted the global trade regime.

Fortunately, he is an expert in U-turns and provided few months of respite while keeping up the pressure on these countries to make a deal otherwise to get ready and face the music.

China was his main target until Beijing made his eyes pop out when China enumerated a list of items, minerals, and commodities that are crucial to America. Thus, he kept on fiddling around with the duty structure and came up with an agreement with China. Some countries did not even wait and openly announced that they were ready to play ball under rules set by him.

Trump is fixated on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Hallelujah. If Obama can get it, why should he too not be the recipient? Lady Luck smiled on him pretty soon. Pakistan-India conflict gave him the opportunity to use his “Art of Deal” and both nations acquiesced to his advice to agree and maintain a ceasefire. If that was not enough, Netanyahu got into the act and began bombing Iran and killing the top Iranian brass and scientists. Iran cannot be allowed to build nuclear strategic assets.

No way, Jose. But Iranian leadership was not sitting and savoring apple pie. The devastation caused due to Iranian retaliatory measures stunned not only Israelis but the world.

Never take Tehran for granted was the message. While Israelis cooped up, scared and shaky in bunkers, the physical infrastructure was systematically destroyed on the outside. All claims of Israeli invincibility and braggadocio went down as Iranian missiles ravaged the belligerent nation.

Trump, just to satisfy pro-Israelis in the US, did his part in bombing selected edifices, but then out of the blue came his advice that enough is enough and there should be a ceasefire. Trump also took credit to defuse the tension between Rwanda and Congo.

Now he has to expertly use his negotiating skills to get Putin and Zelensky to sit and smoke the peace pipe. Will he be able to get this done within the next quarter? If so, then Pakistan was on the right track in officially nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What will then be the Trump plan to really Make America Great Again? For one, he wants American businesses and industries back into the country. No more outsourcing, no more manufacturing, no more huge investments in foreign lands. Come back under the Stars and Stripes.

A tall order, especially for mega corporations at this stage. Today, less than 8% of workers have jobs in the manufacturing sector and most of them do not possess the skill set to work in modernized factories. Today, factories use robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and high tech technology. Reskilling workers to be part of the new ecosystem would be a gargantuan task for most of the corporations.

Moreover, the wages and salaries in the US are already exorbitant. In fact, the higher cost of production would also impact on these workers because they too are consumers. Will Trump fast-track the return of industries, or would there be a longer period before all this, if ever, is possible?

Trump is primarily a businessman, and he looks to the world through the entrepreneurial prism. Hard sell is his forte and he excels in this respect. He has the knack to increase his own wealth during his tenure. He will also strongly market and peddle American military hardware to whichever country he finds an opportunity.

The Middle East rulers are his favorite customers while he wants pacifist countries, such as Japan and even Switzerland, to enhance the defence budget. He will also use all powers in his arsenal to induce South American countries to do the same.

At the home front, he is beginning to flex his muscle by using law-enforcers to achieve his objectives. This isn’t playing well across the fifty states, but he has his hands on his hips and guns in his holsters. Like the scenes from Wild West movies.

Americans will witness what happens to citizens in countries contemptuously known as Banana Republics. Too soon yet, but then the slogan for The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave is Make America Great Again.

American political advisor Stephen Miller once stated that “everybody who stands against Donald Trump are the people who have been running the country into the ground, who have been controlling the levers of power. They’re the people who are responsible for our open borders, for our shrinking middle class, for our terrible trade deals.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

ISLAMABAD: In a striking revelation, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in close coordination with the military, played a pivotal role in facilitating the recently announced ceasefire between Iran and Israel – a truce that brought a halt to 12 days of intense war between the two long-time adversaries.

Soaking at a presser alongside clerics from multiple religious sects on security arrangements for Muharram, Naqvi remarked, “Once again, the ‘uniform’ – our Armed Forces – stood firmly behind the diplomatic breakthrough between Iran and Israel.”

Highlighting the military’s quiet yet crucial involvement, he said: “While the prime minister’s role was undeniably significant, let me be clear – there was a uniform standing behind him. I won’t delve into further details, but the nation should take pride in this achievement.”

Turning to simmering tensions with India, Naqvi assured that Pakistan had not incurred any substantial damage during recent exchanges.

Recounting a particular incident, he revealed that India had launched approximately 11 missiles targeting a Pakistani military base – none of which struck their intended mark.

“At the time, around nine to 11 fighter jets were parked at that airbase,” he noted.

“But by divine grace, the missiles veered off course, leaving our assets untouched.”

Pakistan, he emphasised, refrained from retaliating against civilian targets, instead opting to strike what he described as India’s largest oil depot.

“This is a testament to divine intervention,” he added. “Our intent was never to harm civilians.”

Shifting focus to domestic affairs, Naqvi stressed that ensuring peace during the month of Muharram remained the government’s foremost priority. He commended religious clerics for fostering inter-sect harmony and called on them to continue their efforts.

“We’re deeply grateful for the religious scholars’ presence and guidance. Just as the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee includes voices from all schools of thought, promoting unity during Muharram is equally vital. Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) is not the symbol of a single sect – he is a beacon for us all,” he added.

Echoing his sentiments, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry underlined the importance of solidarity in upholding law and order during the sacred month and countering extremist threats.

“Religious scholars across the nation have upheld their responsibilities admirably,” he said.

“Now more than ever, we must stand united – above hatred, sectarianism, and the divisive plots of our enemies. Our security forces are combating terrorism, but this fight must be collective,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

TEHRAN: Iran announced Thursday that it has reopened its airspace, including over Tehran, after closing it on June 13 due to the war with Israel, according to state media.

Iran says remains committed to nuclear non-proliferation treaty

“Tehran’s Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, as well as those in the north, east, west and south of the country, have been reopened and are ready to operate flights,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday affirmed its commitment to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, as it accused Germany of “malice” over its criticism of Tehran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

“Iran remains committed to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and its Safeguards Agreement,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.

“The explicit German support for the bombing of Iran has obliterated the notion that the German regime harbors anything but malice towards Iranians,” he added in response to a German foreign office post criticising the move.

On Wednesday, Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing the agency’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

G7 urges talks to resume for deal on Iran nuclear programme

In a post on X, Germany’s foreign office called on Iran to “reverse this decision,” saying it sends a “devastating message.”

“It eliminates any possibility of international oversight of the Iranian nuclear program, which is crucial for a diplomatic solution,” it added.

Araghchi lambasted what he called Germany’s “explicit support for Israel’s unlawful attack on Iran” on June 13, killing top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists.

On June 17, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Israel was doing the “dirty work… for all of us” by targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The 12-day war between Iran and Israel saw it, along with the United States, launching unprecedented strikes Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

More than 900 people were killed in Iran during the conflict, according to the judiciary.

The Israeli attacks drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was unacceptable that Iran had chosen to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put into effect on Wednesday a law passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iranian state media reported.

Iran might accept US IAEA inspectors if nuclear deal reached

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a regular briefing this was unacceptable and Tehran must cooperate fully with the U.N. agency without further delay.

TEHRAN: Iran on Wednesday officially suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, a move triggered by the unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.

The 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which erupted on June 13, has sharply escalated tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend cooperation with the Vienna-based IAEA. State media confirmed the legislation had now taken effect.

The law aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, with a particular focus on uranium enrichment, according to Iranian media.

While IAEA inspectors have had access to Iran’s declared nuclear sites, their current status is uncertain amid the suspension.

On Sunday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said the inspectors’ work had been suspended but denied any threats against them or IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

He said the “inspectors are in Iran and are safe”, but “their activities have been suspended, and they are not allowed to access our sites”.

Uranium enrichment has long been a core sticking point in nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, which have since stalled due to the conflict. Israel and some Western countries accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons – claims Tehran denies.

US must rule out more strikes before talks can resume: Iran

The law did not specify exact steps following the suspension.

After parliament passed the bill, it was approved by the Guardian Council and ratified by the presidency.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally enacted the suspension on Wednesday.

“Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” state television said.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal to trigger the “snapback” mechanism and reinstate all UN sanctions on Iran.

‘Deceptive and fraudulent’

The snapback, set to expire in October, was part of the nuclear accord that collapsed after the United States withdrew in 2018. Iran maintained compliance for about a year before scaling back commitments.

Iranian officials have warned the mechanism could prompt their withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Israel, widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, is not an NPT signatory.

Trump says Iranian nuclear program been put back decades

Since the Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran has sharply criticised the IAEA for its silence and condemned a June 12 UN resolution accusing Iran of non-compliance, which Iranian officials say provided a pretext for the attacks.

On Wednesday, senior judiciary official Ali Mozaffari accused Grossi of “preparing the groundwork” for Israel’s raids and called for him to be held accountable, citing “deceptive actions and fraudulent reporting”.

Iran has rejected Grossi’s requests to visit bombed sites, accusing him of “malign intent”, while insisting no threats have been made against him or inspectors.

Britain, France and Germany and have condemned unspecified “threats” against the IAEA chief.

Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper on Saturday accused Grossi of being an Israeli spy who should be executed.

Damage

On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parliament vote to halt cooperation with the IAEA reflected the “concern and anger of the Iranian public opinion”.

The 12-day war began when Israel launched a major bombing campaign on Iran and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, with Tehran responding with waves of missiles and drones launched at Israel.

On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

More than 900 people were killed in Iran, according to the judiciary.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

US President Donald Trump said the US attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, though the extent of the damage was not clear.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has admitted “serious” damage to nuclear sites.

But in a recent interview with CBS Evening News, he said: “One cannot obliterate the technology and science… through bombings”.

TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has granted a final approval to a law to suspend cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, state media said Wednesday.

“Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” state TV said, meaning the measure drawn up in the aftermath of the Iran-Israel war last month is now in effect.

ISLAMABAD: Amid escalating regional tensions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with Iran and conveyed his well-wishes to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Dr Massoud Pezeshkian.

The prime minister visited the Iranian Embassy to express support for Tehran in the wake of recent Israeli military strikes. The visit comes at a time of heightened anxiety in the region, as Iran mourns the lives lost and grapples with the aftermath of the attacks.

PM Sharif extended his deepest condolences to the people and government of Iran, paying tribute to the resilience and courage of the Iranian nation. He also offered prayers for the martyrs and wished a swift recovery to those injured.

Accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, as well as other senior officials, the prime minister signed the condolence book placed at the embassy in honour of the victims.

Prime Minister Sharif and his delegation were received by Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam and senior members of the Iranian diplomatic mission.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Indeed, US President Donald Trump’s statement that the US is pushing for a truce in Gaza by “sometime next week” has given birth to some legitimate hopes that Israel’s war machinery will stop killing and maiming more Palestinians very soon.

Through these columns I would urge the head of government of world’s most powerful country to walk the talk in order to strengthen his credentials for the Nobel Peace Prize. No doubt, President Trump is rightly credited for effecting a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May.

He also successfully ended the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last month. It is quite likely that he would be using his good offices for a much-needed ceasefire in Gaza where human misery has reached a situation, which is beyond description, beyond atrocious and beyond inhumane.

Doctors in Gaza, for example, have warned that thousands of babies could die, as baby formula supplies run dry under Israel’s inhumane blockade.

President Trump must do the needful so as to become the fifth president of the US to have won the Nobel Peace Prize (after Barrack Obama, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter, with Carter becoming the recipient of Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office).

In sum, the situation has clearly thrown up an opportunity for President Trump. He should grab it with both hands.

Laiba Khan (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Dante in “Inferno” wrote, “Pride, avarice and envy are the tongues men know and heed, a babel of despair”. Arrogance is a serious disease of the mind.

The onset of arrogance is not sudden or immediate; it like the cancerous cells keeps growing and gnawing slowly but steadily at the divinely blessed innate humane qualities of humility and modesty. The meaning of arrogance is an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions. (Merriam- Webster, dictionary).

The unentitlement of any credit taken for any act or trait is actually arrogance. The absence and general lack of self-awareness leads towards arrogant attitude and behaviour — such dilute in their own eyes, their major weaknesses and exaggerate their wrongfully perceived strengths.

The cause of vain glory arising out of possessing superior knowledge, wealth, physical attractiveness, piety, family lineage, social status, official designation, etc. is embedded within us. This gives us an inflated sense of importance. It is a negative trait by all definitions and standards.

Obsession with self is the first rung on the ladder of arrogance. Once obsessed, modesty departs. The obsession of being good and better is so fulfilling, that such seek no confirmation from others. Self-love is the best inducement for invoking feelings of pride and arrogance.

Arrogance is abhorred. There is no society where arrogant behaviour is appreciated or admired. All religions, sects, holy books and scriptures abominate with rebuke, anger and disdain the presence of arrogant traits.

Humility is a divorced trait of the arrogant, it is a die-hard foe of arrogance, they refuse to coexist within one person or even the whole society. While it is alright to expect that for standing tall, nobody should have to be at the mercy of endorsement by others; but recognition is best achieved by subtlety than a vociferous announcement. In any case, the praise of another hurts the arrogant.

Arrogance is not limited to individuals. In fact, the infectiousness of this ailment is so deep-seated that it envelopes besides individuals entities organisations, societies, nations, cultural values, economic well-being, prosperity, physical appearances, etc.

How many nations, societies and tribes, who were extremely powerful and used to insolently, arrogantly with their necks floating in the air roamed upon planet earth stand obliterated today; the sickle of time has mowed down the best and the worst of the arrogant. The element of arrogance in character lends a false feeling of immortality. We conveniently refuse to accept that all shadows lengthen and fade away. Divine Scriptures and Holy Books mention about the Pharaohs as arrogant; so also is the son of Noah and the wife of Lot, and several others, whose fate and end was pitiful and horrifying.

As an antidote to this detestation, arrogant leaders are also excellent performers. As hard-task masters they make sure that targets are achieved because failure to do invites their wrath of sudden reprisals.

Arrogance of piety is the worst format. The priest, the Mullah from the pulpit in their sermons and the Sadhus in their Bhajans indulge in condemnation of arrogance as a character trait, yet, they are worst examples of pride. They consider themselves holier, hence are disdainful towards others. A superiority complex syndrome attends to their own personalities. This type of arrogance is more harmful to society.

Fear the arrogance of the polite and the modest. Their arrogant ways are far more deadlier than the person who declares himself as an arrogant being. The despising of pride and arrogance is a higher degree of arrogant attitude. The declamation of pride is no sign of humility.

Arrogance is being haughty and proud. A close cousin is being supercilious, where the individual adopts a cool patronising attitude of haughtiness, reflecting that he or she is better than others. Destruction follows the path of pride, arrogance and superciliousness. The bedrock of arrogance is entrenched in delusional thinking that inspires a feeling of superiority over others.

Napoleon Bonaparte (my hero, for many different reasons than arrogance) was so full of himself, his arrogant ways were to the nth level; his ambitious attitude, self-importance, misgivings about being blest by Divinity to rule the world, leading him to Crown himself as the “Emperor of France”. He ended up, like all arrogant do, dying, a lonely death in the desolate island of St. Helena in the Atlantic. A tragic end of a brilliant man.

The arrogant Raza Shah Pehlavi was humbled by a humble person, who lived several thousand miles away in the suburbs of Paris; Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s remark “I am the Bangla Bandhu” was worth a single soldier’s loaded magazine; the arrogant claim “Dhaka over my dead body” had a life of less than 48 hours; the insolent pride of thumping the table by Gen. Yahya in response to a group of Japanese journalists, who had dared to use the word ‘genocide’ was humbled by the surrender, that slapped us all so viciously that it still hurts; Indira Gandhi’s atrocious arrogance of storming of the Golden Temple was undone by her personally selected bodyguard, Beant Singh, who mercilessly pumped the entire sulphur of his automatic weapon into her.

Human history is resplendent with the inglorious end of all and any who possessed even a single grain of arrogance in their behaviour and attitude.

Several arrogant leaders in not-too-distant history stood out for their ruthlessness—Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, etc. The common attribute that runs as a thread of continuity is: almost all of them were not only arrogant but ruthless, murderous, unkind, unforgiving, etc. They weren’t respected but immensely feared.

Arrogance derives power through either de jure means or by the prevalent importance, as exercised, or on a de facto basis. The power of the barrel/ gun is a stark reality of human history since yester years. Leaders who are hoisted not by popular vote but through diabolical means and strategies (Benjamin Netanyahu is a case in point) lack validation. Such leaders rule by arrogance of power, coercion and fear.

Israel as a nation has always been full of pride of invincibility. They thought it was proper and right to fly wherever they wished to, across seven seas, to go and hit with impunity other countries. Their arrogance laid to shreds all norms of international laws and civility. That myth has recently been broken—no invincibility but only vulnerabilities—by those who have shown the spine to stand up to the bullying of Netanyahu. The myth of Iron Dome has been busted by Iranian-built missiles.

In the current crop of leadership across the globe, Netanyahu and Narendra Modi stand out as the best (worst) examples of arrogant leaders. Both of them are equally guilty of indulging in rampant murder of the innocent. Their political thought and ideology are based on deep-seated hatred against the enemies, real or self-perceived is unimportant. Both have been genocidal in their approaches— massive and insolent indulgence in, rape, loot, murder and plunder of innocent men, women and children.

The manifestations and formats of arrogance are several. Those who are articulate and speak well exhibit in their behaviour pride arising out of this advantage over those who cannot; so anybody who even understands that their uniqueness of possessing a certain quality or skill-set is an act of Divinity still bask in public glory as if it is their self-learnt art. Such become perennially arrogant.

The meed of deeds, good or evil, is settled many times now, then and there, and in few cases the retribution comes on a delayed basis; but it is usually more lethally destructive.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

In a rush. In pursuit. In self-doubt. In agony. In ecstasy. In chaos. These are some words that depict our life or state of mind. Life has become more complex, busy and dizzy. Just take the last five years, i.e., 2020 to 2025. Anything and everything has happened. Covid put an end to millions of lives and billions of people’s livings.

Caged in their houses families went through endless trauma all across the world. Two long years went living in this non-stop pressure cooker.

Just when everybody thought life is returning to normal the serial episodes on war became reality. 2022 saw the Russia-Ukraine war. Israel has been on a killing spree in Gaza and now the war on Iran. The unhealthy geo-politics combined with some of the toughest financial years have made more and more people become disengaged with work, with relationships and with life itself.

“The Mental State of the World Report for 2024” by Sapien Labs highlights concerning trends in global mental health as it draws attention to serious concerns.

The report uses the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) to measure mental health and well-being, based on data from over 1 million participants across 82 countries. Younger adults (18-34) report significantly lower MHQ scores compared to older adults (55+). Challenges like emotional regulation, social interactions, and cognitive functions are more prevalent in younger generations.

The report says “We stand here in 2025 at a remarkable juncture in history where each younger generation across the modern world has diminished Mind Health relative to the previous generation, translating to a progressively diminishing capacity to navigate life’s challenges and function productively.” This is alarming. This needs attention. This needs solution. If the young are struggling to understand and cope with themselves and life, the world’s future is at stake. The problem with so much going around is that it makes people over-focused on the external and under-focused on the internal.

There seems to be an inner disconnect in the young where they face an identity and direction crisis. This gives way to dissatisfaction, anxiety, behaviour disorders and feeling of not belonging—a classical recipe for depression and mental dysfunctionality. The main contributors to this external focus are:

1. The outer noise— The outer noise suppresses the inner voice. With the last five years being nothing but amplified breaking news, the din of this crisis banging 24/7 has frayed nerves. All across the world, news seem dismal spelling doomsday. COVID made people imprisoned and agitated. Post-COVID the financial and global stress is making people stressed and frustrated. The conversations and discourses around are more on making do rather than finding the real meaning of life. People pursuing a degree are confused what to follow. Everybody is talking about artificial intelligence. Nobody is really talking about real intelligence of the youth. There is so much discussion on how machines can now learn but little on what the young want to learn. This has created a generation that is now being labeled as “impossible”. The Generation Z is being branded as unfit, misfit, alien etc. When they go to universities they find the studies too boring. When they go to work, they find work a burden. In all this “Out there” action the real person is lost.

2. The inner disconnect— Most people young or old go through life without really discovering their own real core. The basic journey of “selfrealization” is becoming increasingly clouded by their own inability to find what they really want and their desire to be “wanna be”. The social-media life is virtual but unreal. The “Selfie” is the most misleading presentation of reality. The DP profiles hardly ever match the actual person. The constant competition to look good, look ecstatic, look perfect (of course with the help of all the filters) creates huge dissatisfaction in most people. As people spend more and more time on the virtual life, the gap between what they really are and what they think they should be becomes more pronounced. They constantly look-out for validation, for comparison and for direction. The outside world is too busy posing as the most perfect poster picture person, the ace professional and the happy couple. Their pictures are getting thousands of likes and hundreds of followers. This makes their life look so rosy and exciting compared to people who are mostly dealing with the day-to-day ordeal of routines and relationships. Hardly any time is spent on discovering their own inner person.

What needs to be done is to:

1. Embrace your imperfections— Perfection is a curse. Perfection is a delusion. The perfect life does not exist. Seeking perfection is the shortest route to misery and discontent. The social media is a dumping of false pretensions. Stop looking at others and start looking within. It is our flaws that make us human. It is our imperfections that make us unique. Behind the happy, loving, laughing images of social media is the dark reality that is as stark as it is for everybody else. Start confronting your own fears, failures and realizing that this is normal. Start accepting your own person rather than comparing, regretting and carrying baggage. Let go of the “if only…” syndrome. Practice the art of forgiving others and forgiving yourself.

2. Find the light button within— Most people find it difficult to discover their own purpose and passion. What is that makes us lose track of time? What is that thing that makes you forget yourself? Is it painting, writing, helping others, cooking, etc. That is the discovery voyage you need to undertake within. Find out what makes the light bulb of the mind turn on? What is that makes your heart full and happy?

3. Share and shape— While self-realization does need inner exploration, connecting and sharing with others what you have discovered is essential. Talk to your trusted friends. Seek a mentor. Take help if required from a therapist. Seek information on what you want to do. Set up a flexible plan to go for it. Expect imperfections. Do not give yourself hard targets. Just keep at it.

To live a false life kills life. When the outer forces drive your life, it causes internal disconnect with a disturbing state of being switched off. This creates the need for constant external validation that is a cause of huge emotional upheaval.

The best way to live is to live authentically. That means discovering what really matters to you and living your life in congruence of these values. That then empowers you internally and gives meaning to your life. That then gets rid of trying to live your life mindlessly and meaninglessly. And then, try to help one more person discover the meaning of their life. As Pablo Picasso says, “The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

WASHINGTON/ OTTAWA: Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations said on Monday they supported the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and urged for negotiations to resume for a deal to address Iran’s nuclear program, according to a joint statement.

Since April, Iran and the US have held talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran says its program is peaceful and Israel and its allies say they want to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon.

“We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran’s nuclear program,” the G7 foreign ministers said.

Last week, Trump announced a ceasefire between US ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region already on edge since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Before the ceasefire was announced, Washington struck Iran’s nuclear sites and Iran targeted a US base in Qatar in retaliation.

The G7 foreign ministers said they urged “all parties to avoid actions that could further destabilize the region.”

US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff has said talks between Washington and Tehran were “promising” and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal.

The G7 top diplomats denounced threats against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent.

On June 12, the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.

Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, says it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.

BRUSSELS: The EU’s top diplomat told Iran’s foreign minister Tuesday that Brussels is willing to facilitate a return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme after US and Israeli strikes.

“Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme should restart as soon as possible” and “cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency must resume, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X after a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“The EU is ready to facilitate this.”

Kallas further warned Tehran that “any threats to pull out of the non-proliferation treaty don’t help to lower tensions.”

Iran says to submit own nuclear proposal to US soon

The call came after Aragchi ruled out a out a quick resumption of talks with the United States and said Tehran will first need assurances it will not be attacked again.

The United States and Iran were holding nuclear talks when Israel hit Iranian nuclear sites and military infrastructure. The United States joined the assault by bombing three nuclear sites – Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan – on June 21.

The EU has long sought to play a mediation role with Iran.

The 27-nation bloc was a signatory – and facilitator – of a 2015 deal between Iran and international powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

US President Donald Trump abandoned that deal in 2018.

LAHORE: Iranian ambassador Reza Amiri-Moghaddam has expressed deep gratitude to people of Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami for their strong support of Iran in the face of Israeli and American aggression.

According to JI media cell at Mansoora, at a luncheon ceremony hosted at the embassy in honour of Jamaat-e-Islami Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman on Monday, he presented a formal letter of appreciation, lauding the JI’s principled stance and the Pakistani people’s vocal rejection of the recent Zionist military campaign.

According to media cell of JI at Mansoora, speaking at the occasion, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman commended the Iranian leadership, particularly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for demonstrating remarkable resolve in the face of hostile foreign intervention. He conveyed condolences for the Iranian martyrs and solidarity with their families, noting that the Iranian people’s steadfast resistance was the key factor in defeating the designs of the U.S. and Israel, who sought regime change in Tehran.

Calling for Muslim unity, Rehman stressed the need for Islamic countries to set aside internal differences and stand united against common enemies. He warned that Israel and the United States do not wish to see any Muslim country rise in strength and are systematically working to weaken them one by one.

The JI chief also urged for greater economic and strategic cooperation between Iran and Pakistan, including the swift completion of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and the initiation of formal mechanisms to import oil from Iran. He proposed a political and defense alliance between Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, stating that such a pact would serve as a powerful deterrent against external aggression.

Praising Iran’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, he said Tehran’s backing of the people of Gaza has reinvigorated the movement for the liberation of Palestine. “Jamaat-e-Islami stand firmly with the Palestinians until their complete freedom,” he affirmed, adding the JI’s commitment to the cause of Al-Quds and the unity of the Ummah transcends all divisions of race, sect, and language.

In his letter, Ambassador Amiri-Moghaddam described the recent Zionist aggression—carried out with the backing of the United States and other colonial powers—as a blatant violation of international law and human values. He praised the resilience of the Iranian people, the sacrifices of its armed forces, and the wisdom of its leadership as the reasons for the failure and disgrace of the aggressors.

He wrote that the principled and vocal support of Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pakistani people in such a critical moment served as a source of strength and comfort for the Iranian nation and helped reinforce bonds of brotherhood among Islamic nations. He called Rehman solidarity a shining chapter in the historic ties between Iran and Pakistan and a reflection of the deep religious and cultural bonds the two countries share.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

The US-led west has created new forms and methods of exercising its hegemony over the rest of the world. The colonial history of the past two centuries is already filled with atrocities committed against the colonised in the name of a ‘civilising’ mission. In later times, and particularly since the decolonisation process following World War II, the US-led west has developed an extensive theoretical and ideological narrative to justify its so-called ‘rules-based order’.

The unanswered questions this gives rise to are 1) What rules? 2) Whose rules? 3) How, after delineating these ‘rules’, does the US-led west see fit to violate them in letter and spirit wherever its interests are involved, including, first and foremost, global hegemony?

While the guns have fallen silent in the recent wars between Pakistan and India and Iran and Israel, with the US in tow to the latter, these conflagrations have given new life to the questions posed above. In the case of Pakistan and India, yes, we managed to get the better of India after it launched attacks across the international border, but our subsequent emphasis on dialogue between the two contending sides appears to be a fond hope at best, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s embarrassment.

The likelihood is that new forms of action will now replace India’s open cross-border hostilities, including sabotage and covert actions.

As far as the Iran-Israel-US conflagration goes, it is by now obvious to even the purblind that Israel is the settler colonialist cat’s paw of the US-led west, supplied, armed and encouraged in its outrageous behaviour with its neighbours near and far and the Palestinians by its ‘masters’. If this seems an oversimplification, one may concede that occasionally Israel jumps the gun or acts (has acted) in ways unpalatable to western interests, but these are lovers’ quarrels soon settled.

In the case of Iran, the ostensible aims of the Israeli and US attacks seem far from achieved. If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s thirty year bellicosity regarding Iran’s transition to a nuclear weapons power (“any day now”, repeated ad nauseam by this mischief maker) has led logically and inexorably to its 14-day barrage against Iran, capped by Trump’s belligerent strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, neither has succeeded in the aims trotted out by both.

Neither has Iran’s nuclear capability been irreparably harmed, nor has the much desired in Washington and Tel Aviv regime change in Tehran occurred. On the contrary, Iran has safeguarded its 60 percent enriched uranium and the Iranian people, even those not well disposed towards the mullah regime in Tehran, have rallied in defence of their country. In other words, the Israeli-US assault on Iran has proved an utter failure.

Israel, on the other hand, has for perhaps the first time, received a small dose of what it has been dishing out with gay abandon to the hapless, defenceless Palestinians and their dwindling number of sympathisers in Lebanon and Yemen. It is perhaps too soon to speculate, but Israel’s much vaunted impenetrability has certainly been dented, even if not completely demolished. This is bound to have some impact on new emigration into Israel, if not an outflux of fearful Israelis to safer climes.

But the bitter fact has now, in the light of what has transpired since October 2023, to be frankly acknowledged that the hopes of Hamas in attacking Israel in an unprecedented manner and capturing hostages to bargain with have been dashed. It appeared that Hamas was attempting to nullify the growing ranks of Arab countries succumbing to the ‘temptation’ of joining the ranks of their brother countries in signing onto the so-called Abraham Accords floated by Trump in his first term. In essence these were meant to pave the way for recognition of, and peace with, Israel as an undeniable and settled fact of life.

In return, the Arab states being wooed were promised generous largesse emanating from Washington’s banquet table.

If Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s denial statement the other day is taken note of, it seems Pakistan too is being ‘wooed’ by certain quarters to sign on to this ignominious surrender and betrayal of the Palestinians.

Though a ‘peace’ of sorts reigns, Iran’s perception of doubting Israel’s respect for the ceasefire hits the nail on the head, particularly if Trump’s statement about bombing Iran again if necessary is taken into account.

Why is Iran being ‘blessed’ by so much of this unwanted attention? The logical answer is that after weakening Iran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the hegemonic dreamers in Washington are desirous of delivering the final blow that will cleanse the Middle East of any semblance of resistance to their desired goal of complete hegemony. To achieve this, objective analysis suggests they can go to any lengths. In the process of course, the violation of their own professed ‘rules-based order’ would justify classifying the US as a rogue state.

As for Israel, it has never subscribed to any international rules of behaviour and is therefore more than deserving of this appellation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday he was not offering Iran anything nor talking to it “since we totally obliterated” the country’s nuclear facilities.

“I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their Nuclear Facilities.”

The statement comes as Iran’s deputy foreign minister told the BBC that talks between Washington and Tehran cannot resume unless the US rules out further strikes on Iran.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the British broadcaster that the US had signalled it wants to return to the negotiating table, a week after it struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump says would bomb Iran again if nuclear activities start

“We have not agreed to any date, we have not agreed to the modality,” said Takht-Ravanchi.

“Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue?”

The US needs to be “quite clear on this very important question”, he said.

The two countries were in talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme when Israel hit Iranian nuclear sites and military infrastructure this month, with the US joining by bombing three nuclear sites – Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan – on June 21.

The deputy minister revealed to the BBC that the US had signalled it did “not want to engage in regime change” by targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Takht-Ravanchi also said Iran should still be allowed to enrich uranium.

“The level of that can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say that you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment, and if you do not agree, we will bomb you, that is the law of the jungle,” he said.

Israel claims that Iran’s nuclear programme is close to producing a bomb, whereas Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes.

It is not clear yet how much damage the strikes inflicted on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Trump has said were “totally obliterated”.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran would probably be able to begin to produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”.

Takht-Ravanchi said he did not know how long it would take.

Under a 2015 deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium below 3.67 percent purity for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.

Trump abandoned the agreement in 2018 and Iran responded by producing uranium enriched to 60 percent – above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade.

That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.

TEHRAN: At least 935 people were killed in Iran during its 12-day war with Israel, Iranian state media reported Monday, nearly a week since a ceasefire took hold.

“During the 12-day war waged by the Zionist regime against our country, 935 martyrs have been identified so far,” the official IRNA news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying.

The death toll included 132 women and 38 children, Jahangir said.

Israel on June 13 launched a major bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and atomic scientists.

Iran voices ‘serious doubts’ over Israel commitment to ceasefire

The Israeli strikes hit military bases, nuclear sites as well as residential areas across Iran.

Iran retaliated with waves of missiles and drone strikes which hit major cities in Israel including Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.

A ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect on June 24.

LONDON: Diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran cannot resume unless the US rules out further strikes on Iran, its deputy foreign minister told the BBC late Sunday.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the British broadcaster that the US had signalled it wants to return to the negotiating table, a week after it struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We have not agreed to any date, we have not agreed to the modality,” said Takht-Ravanchi.

“Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue?”

The US needed to be “quite clear on this very important question”, he said.

The two countries were in talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme when Israel hit Iranian nuclear sites and military infrastructure earlier this month, with the US joining by bombing three nuclear sites – Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan – on June 21.

The deputy minister revealed to the BBC that the US had signalled it did “not want to engage in regime change” by targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Takht-Ravanchi also said Iran should still be allowed to enrich uranium.

“The level of that can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say that you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment, and if you do not agree, we will bomb you, that is the law of the jungle,” he said.

Israel claims that Iran’s nuclear programme is close to producing a bomb, whereas Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes.

It is not clear yet how much damage the strikes inflicted on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which US President Donald Trump had said were “totally obliterated”.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran would probably be able to begin to produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”.

Iran-Israel war opens ‘new road’ for Mideast: US envoy to Turkiye

Takht-Ravanchi said he did not know how long it would take.

Under a 2015 deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium below 3.67 percent purity for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.

Trump abandoned the agreement in 2018 and Iran responded by producing uranium enriched to 60 percent – above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade.

That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.

The world today finds itself at a dangerous crossroads. Regional conflicts once seen as isolated flashpoints Palestine, Iran, Ukraine, South Asia are now connected by a shared pattern of escalating militarism and institutional paralysis.

These clashes are not random, they represent deeper power shifts and systemic failures that affect global stability. Gaza has become a global symbol of civilian suffering and collective neglect. Since the latest round of violence began earlier this year, more than 55,000 civilians, many of them women and children have perished under Israeli airstrikes targeting densely populated neighbourhoods.

Hospitals, schools, and residential buildings have been reduced to rubble, leaving families homeless and traumatized. Aid convoys were delayed, communications blacked out, and displaced families had little time or space to find shelter. These events bear the marks of a broader strategic purpose yet were met only with official statements urging “restraint.”

This disparity between words and deeds has exposed serious flaws in international governance. The United Nations has repeatedly failed to enforce its own principles. Security Council resolutions condemning the violence were blocked or diluted, and the institution’s ability to hold perpetrators accountable has steadily eroded.

Meanwhile, some of the world’s wealthiest nations traditionally champions of peace have maintained steady military cooperation with Israel, citing “security partnerships” and shared democratic values. But when these ideals clash with civilian devastation, they echo hollow.

These interconnected crises highlight troubling inconsistencies in global response. In Ukraine, Russian aggression sparked worldwide condemnation, sanctions, and aid. In contrast, the immense suffering in Gaza continues under a more muted chorus. Israel’s strikes on Iran did not trigger the kind of protests or political backlash that similar actions might have elsewhere.

The metric for international outrage appears selective, shaped less by principle than by political convenience. Israel’s current leadership has pursued a policy rooted in deterrence and territorial control.

Statements by officials emphasized pre-emptive removal of threats. This posture culminated in June when, under intense domestic pressure, Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. Though justified as halting nuclear weaponization, these facilities were under international inspection, with no clear evidence of weapons development.

The US President Donald Trump, responded with “Operation Midnight Hammer,” deploying seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to strike the same Iranian facilities. The use of bunker-busting munitions and Tomahawk missiles represented an escalation beyond deterrence.

In response, Iran launched a measured counterstrike, targeting the U.S. base in Al Udeid, Qatar. However, diplomatic warnings were issued in advance to avoid human casualties. Analysts interpreted this as a display of capability rather than a bid for escalation – an assertion of sovereignty without tipping into war.

Iran’s situation remains complex. Decades of sanctions and embargoes have fostered a national identity of resilience. Whether its measured response will lead to renewed diplomacy or deepen the arms race is uncertain. Still, Iran’s recent moves suggest a willingness to assert strength without surrendering to war an approach that may open paths to new negotiations or at least delay further escalation.

The India-Pakistan standoff in May 2025 highlighted the dangers and limitations of South Asian power dynamics. Triggered by Indian cross-border aggression near the Line of Control in Kashmir, Pakistan responded with precision airstrikes using JF-17 jets and electronic warfare systems to neutralize Indian defense assets.

Within days, Indian forces withdrew, unable to consolidate their advance. Though casualties were limited compared to past conflicts, the episode underscored Pakistan’s enhanced military readiness and redefined South Asian strategic equations.

Pakistan’s global position is increasingly important both strategically and morally. As one of only two Muslim-majority nuclear states, it bears significant responsibility for regional stability.

Domestically, it must confront internal paralysis, combating corruption, modernizing infrastructure, and strengthening democratic accountability. Externally, Pakistan has the potential to lead through religious diplomacy and peacekeeping efforts, projecting a vision of stability rooted in shared values and multilateral engagement. Despite its strategic significance, Pakistan often remains outside mainstream international discourse a silence that can no longer be afforded.

In Ukraine, now in its fourth year of war, over 12 million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands killed. Economic fallout has rippled across Europe and the globe destabilizing energy supplies, inflation, and food systems. The West has justified its involvement as defensive solidarity, but broader consequences remain under-addressed.

Similarly, the Gulf states Saudi Arabia, the UAE have remained largely passive despite their financial and geopolitical leverage. Their silence on Gaza and Iran reflects missed opportunities to lead. More engaged diplomacy, humanitarian outreach, and conflict mediation could reframe their regional role from bystanders to stabilizers.

Trump’s latest term has been defined by a transactional, often unpredictable foreign policy. His critique of Israeli aggression while still affirming support was a marked departure. Praising Iran’s measured missile response signalled internal rifts in U.S. strategic doctrine. These shifts reflect a broader American reorientation away from global policing toward tactical selectivity.

Still, the core issue persists, war has become an industry. Global military spending topped $2.2 trillion in 2024, with the U.S. accounting for nearly 40% of all arms exports. The overlap between commerce and conflict casts doubt on the sincerity of peace pledges. If war sustains economies, can peace truly be achieved?

The time for cosmetic reform is over. International institutions must prioritize substance over symbolism. The UN must overhaul veto powers, enforce civilian protection, and ensure real accountability. International law must move beyond rhetoric to penalize violations with real consequences.

What’s missing today is leadership rooted in human dignity. Sustainable peace comes not through bombs or balance sheets, but through transparent governance, economic inclusion, and shared purpose. Even incremental progress a unified humanitarian framework, regional deterrence dialogues, enforceable rights charters could pivot us away from the brink.

The world has a choice. We can let wars define our era or reclaim the moral architecture that once gave diplomacy its weight. Peace must be practical, deliberate, and centered on prevention. Power, after all, should serve people not destroy them.

The article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Business Recorder or its owners

WASHINGTON: Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.

A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that account to Reuters but said there were serious questions about whether the Iranian officials were being truthful, and described the intercepts as unreliable indicators.

The report by the Post is the latest, however, to raise questions about the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defence Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back Iran by months.

President Donald Trump has said the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but US officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the US military strikes last weekend.

The White House dismissed the report by the Post. “The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was quoted as saying by the Post.

In an interview broadcast on Sunday on Fox News, Trump reiterated his confidence that the strikes had destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “It was obliterated like nobody’s ever seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time,” he said on the “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” program.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s Oil Refineries said on Sunday it had partly resumed activities at its Haifa facility, which was shut down following an Iranian missile strike two weeks ago.

Israel’s Oil Refineries, or Bazan, said in a regulatory filing in Tel Aviv that it was gradually restoring operations and would likely be fully operational by October.

VIENNA: Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi was quoted as saying on Sunday, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme have been.

US officials have stated that their strikes obliterated key nuclear sites in Iran, although US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.

“The capacities they have are there. They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi told CBS News in an interview.

“Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,” he added, according to the transcript of an interview on “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan due to air on Sunday.

Saying it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons, Israel launched attacks on Iran earlier this month, igniting a 12-day air war that the US eventually joined.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Grossi, who heads the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said the strikes on sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan had significantly set back Iran’s ability to convert and enrich uranium.

However, Western powers stress that Iran’s nuclear advances provide it with an irreversible knowledge gain, suggesting that while losing experts or facilities may slow progress, the advances are permanent.

“Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology,” Grossi said. “So you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have.” Grossi was also asked about reports of Iran moving its stock of highly enriched uranium in the run-up to the US strikes and said it was not clear where that material was. “So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved,” he said.

TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday said it was not convinced Israel would abide by a ceasefire that ended their 12-day war this week.

The most serious escalation to date between the arch-foes erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its disputed nuclear programme.

Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied, insisting it has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes like energy.

The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, a staunch ally of Israel’s.

“We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,” Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.

“We have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force” if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres published on Sunday, Iran demanded that the United Nations recognise Israel and the United States as being to blame for this month’s war.

“We officially request hereby that the Security Council recognise the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the letter.

The United States joined Israel in its campaign during the war, carrying out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran’s atomic programme.

Trump has threatened further strikes should Iran enrich uranium to levels capable of manufacturing nuclear weapons.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent in 2021, well above the 3.67 percent limit set by a 2015 agreement from which the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018.

To make a weapon, Iran would need to enrich uranium up to 90 percent.

Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.

According to Iran’s health ministry, at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the 12-day war with Israel.

Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.

During the war, Iran arrested dozens of people it accused of spying for Israel, also saying it seized equipment including drones and weapons.

Iran’s parliament on Sunday voted to ban the unauthorised use of communications equipment, including tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, according to the official news agency IRNA.

An Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin prison during the war killed at least 71 people, Iran’s judiciary said Sunday.

The strike on Monday destroyed part of the administrative building at Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals.

According to judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir, the victims at Evin included administrative staff, guards, prisoners and visiting relatives as well as people living nearby.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that detained French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, held at Evin for three years, were not believed to have been harmed by the Israeli strike, which he described as “unacceptable”.

On Tuesday, a day after the strike, the judiciary said that the Iranian prison authority had transferred inmates out of Evin prison, without specifying their number or identifying them.

The inmates at Evin have included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi as well as several French nationals and other foreigners.

ISTANBUL: The Iran-Israel war has opened the way to a “new road” for the Middle East in which Turkiye will have a key role to play, Washington’s envoy to Turkiye said Sunday.

“What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: ‘Time out. Let’s create a new road’ (and) Turkiye is key in that new road,” Ambassador Tom Barrack told the Anadolu state news agency.

“The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story,” he said, saying it was essential for decades-long enmities to be reframed.

Israel, he said, was “in the process of being redefined” and its regional neighbours needed to reach agreement with it.

“(Syrian) President (Ahmed) al-Sharaa has indicated that he doesn’t hate Israel and that he wants peace on that border. I think that will also happen with Lebanon. It’s a necessity to have an agreement with Israel,” he said.

Iran to hold ‘historic’ funeral for slain top military, nuclear figures

What is happening in Syria is “in big part due to Turkiye” – a key backer of the Islamist-led rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad and now form the Damascus government – and Turkiye could play a central role in changing the regional narrative, he said.

US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan “see that this is an opportunity at a really interesting point in both of their lives where they can change the dialogue,” he said.

“And dialogue in the Middle East takes strong leadership.”

Barrack also said he believed there would be a ceasefire soon in the deadly Gaza war which would also speed up a shift in regional thinking.

“We’re going to see a ceasefire in Gaza in the near future, I think we have the right team on it,” he told Anadolu.

“Everybody is starting to move back towards the Abraham Accords, especially as the Gaza situation dissipates,” he said referring to the US-sponsored agreements struck by Israel to normalise ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

And he expressed confidence that Turkiye and Israel – whose relationship has been shattered by the Gaza war – would resume their former ties.

“It can happen again, it’s not a religious issue, it’s a misunderstanding of territorial desires. So having a discussion, a dialogue.. will take place.”

DUBAI: Israel’s attack on the Evin Prison in Iran’s capital Tehran on June 23 killed 71 people, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Sunday.

At the end of an air war with Iran, Israel struck Tehran’s most notorious jail for political prisoners, in a demonstration that it was expanding its targets beyond military and nuclear sites to aim at symbols of Iran’s ruling system.

“In the attack on Evin prison, 71 people were martyred including administrative staff, youth doing their military service, detainees, family members of detainees who were visiting them and neighbours who lived in the prison’s vicinity,” Jahangir said in remarks carried on judiciary’s news outlet Mizan.

Jahangir had previously said that part of Evin prison’s administrative building had been damaged in the attack and people were killed and injured.

Israel army issues evacuation warning for parts of north Gaza

The judiciary added that remaining detainees had been transferred to other prisons in Tehran province. Evin prison holds a number of foreign nationals, including two French citizens detained for three years.

“The strike targeting Evin prison in Tehran, put our citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris in danger. It is unacceptable,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had said on social media X after the attack.

CAIRO: Emirates extended its cancellation of flights to and from Iran’s capital Tehran until July 5 due to the “regional situation”, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Airlines suspend flights after Israel strikes

The Dubai-based airline said it will recommence operations to Baghdad on July 1 and Basra on July 2.

TEHRAN: Iran began a state funeral service Saturday for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel, after Tehran’s top diplomat condemned Donald Trump’s comments on supreme leader Ali Khamenei as “unacceptable”.

The proceedings started at 8:00 am local time (0430 GMT) in the capital Tehran as government offices and many businesses were closed on Saturday for the occasion.

“The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started,” state TV said, showing footage of people donning black clothes, waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of the slain military commanders.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as well as other senior government officials also attended the event.

Images showed coffins draped in Iranian flags and bearing portraits of the deceased commanders in uniform near Enghelab Square in central Tehran.

The United States had carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, joining its ally Israel’s bombardments of Iran’s nuclear programme in the 12-day conflict launched on June 13.

Both Israel and Iran claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire, with Iranian leader Khamenei downplaying the US strikes as having done “nothing significant”.

In a tirade on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran Friday for claiming to have won the war.

Trump says would bomb Iran again if nuclear activities start

He also claimed to have known “EXACTLY where he (Khamenei) was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces… terminate his life”.

“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’” the US leader said.

Trump added he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran’s main demands.

“But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” Trump said.

Hitting back at Trump Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the Republican president’s comments on Khamenei.

“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei,” Araghchi posted on social media platform X.

“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults.”

The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran’s health ministry said. Iran’s attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures.

‘Historic’ state funeral

The ceremony in Tehran “to honour the martyrs” will be followed by a funeral procession to Azadi Square, about 11 kilometres (seven miles) across the sprawling metropolis.

Iran says IAEA chief request to visit bombed sites suggests ‘malign intent’

Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, vowed it would be a “historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution”.

Among the dead is Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after the Iranian leader.

He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.

Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.

Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed on the first day of the war, will also be laid to rest after Saturday’s ceremony – which will also honour at least 30 other top commanders.

Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children.

‘Imminent threat’

During his first term in office, Trump pulled out in 2018 of a landmark nuclear deal – negotiated by former US president Barack Obama.

The deal that Trump had abandoned aimed to make it practically impossible for Iran to build an atomic bomb, while at the same time allowing it to pursue a civil nuclear programme.

Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is only for civilian purposes, stepped up its activities after Trump withdrew from the agreement.

After the US strikes, Trump said negotiations for a new deal were set to begin next week.

But Tehran denied a resumption, and leader Khamenei said Trump had “exaggerated events in unusual ways”, rejecting US claims Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back by decades.

Israel had claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” during the 12-day war.

But its foreign minister reiterated Friday the world was obliged to stop Tehran from developing an atomic bomb.

“The international community now has an obligation to prevent, through any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan expressed full solidarity with the Iranian government and people at all levels during the recent Israeli aggression on Iran.

Speaking to members of the Senate and National Assembly after the approval of Budget 2025-26, he said that Iranian leaders, notably President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, maintained continuous contact with him throughout the crisis.

“The resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict will unlock a new era of peace and prosperity across the region,” he said, underlining Pakistan’s commitment to regional stability.

Shifting focus to domestic affairs, Sharif hailed the tireless efforts of his economic team for crafting a “people-friendly” budget designed to meet the aspirations of all Pakistanis.

He expressed deep gratitude to allied political parties, whose crucial consultations paved the way for the budget’s smooth approval.

“This exemplary unity among our coalition partners is the backbone of our economic revival,” he said, urging collective hard work for the nation’s development.

Turning to security and foreign policy, Sharif proudly recounted Pakistan’s recent victory in countering India’s “unjustified aggression.”

He credited the Armed Forces, political leadership, civil society, and media for collectively foiling hostile designs and elevating Pakistan’s prestige on the global stage.

Under the leadership of PPP Chairman Bilawal, Pakistan’s diplomatic delegation exposed India’s malign intentions and won international acclaim.

The delegation’s efforts were warmly lauded by overseas Pakistanis, who praised both the government and the military for their decisive diplomatic and military triumphs, he added.

The parliamentarians who called on the Prime Minister include MNAs Khail Das Kohistani, Dr Darshan, Nelson Azeem from PML-N, and Ramesh Lal and Naveed Amir from PPP.

They congratulated the Prime Minister on the budget’s approval and discussed pressing constituency issues. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Rana Mubashir Iqbal, Minister of State for Power Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Special Assistant Talha Burki also met the Prime Minister.

In a separate meeting, Sharif welcomed MNAs Abrar Shah, Tahir Iqbal, Salahuddin Junejo, Jam Abdul Karim Bajar, Abdul Qadir Gilani, and Sardar Yaqub Khan Nasir, who reiterated their congratulations and brought forward local concerns.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

KARACHI: The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, the President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance, the Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board, Mian Zahid Hussain, said that Pakistan's constructive, neutral and balanced role in the Iran-Israel ceasefire has earned international appreciation.

He said Pakistan acted with wisdom to safeguard the broader interests of the Muslim Ummah, regional stability, and the global economy.

Mian Zahid Hussain stated that the ceasefire has led to a noticeable decline in global oil prices, providing relief to both consumers and businesses worldwide. If the conflict had escalated, crude oil prices could have exceeded 110 dollars per barrel, severely aggravating global inflation and pushing developing economies under immense economic pressure.

He noted that the reduction in tensions would help revive shipping routes, lower insurance costs, enhance the environment for maritime trade, and mitigate disruptions in the global supply chain. Countries like Pakistan will benefit from smoother delivery of energy and essential commodities.

Mian Zahid added that the recent war had exposed weaknesses in Israel's defense systems and cast doubt on its military claims. He emphasized that victory cannot be achieved solely through propaganda.

Urging Iran to reassess its nuclear, defense, and foreign policies in light of current realities, he said the country should now strive to eliminate the economic sanctions that have hindered its development for four decades. By shifting its focus towards economic revival, similar to China's path, Iran can unlock sustained growth.

He stressed that lasting peace in the Middle East requires sincere efforts. Iran should reconsider its ties with India in light of New Delhi's strategic alliance with Israel during the conflict. He also warned Iran to remain cautious of voices claiming that the US failed to destroy its nuclear program; as such narratives could invite further attacks.

The business leader said that Iran's top priority now must be the removal of sanctions and economic rehabilitation. Meanwhile, Pakistan should expand its diplomatic footprint in the Middle East and continue to play an active role in protecting the shared interests of the Muslim world.

He emphasized that the plight of Palestinians must not be ignored. Thousands of innocent Palestinians have been martyred, and millions have been displaced. The international community must stop Israel from continuing this bloodshed. The United Nations' failure to respond effectively has undermined its credibility. He reiterated that Palestinians deserve peace, protection, and justice just as much as any other nation.

He concluded by stating that this war has proven once again that conflicts bring no real gains. Now is the time for all regional countries to abandon the arms race and focus on the welfare and progress of their people.

Mian Zahid expressed hope that the current ceasefire will be transformed into lasting peace through responsible actions from all parties, ensuring that future generations are spared from the horrors of war.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Senator Irfan Siddiqui, praised the Foreign Office for its outstanding performance during recent regional crisis, asserting that Pakistan’s strong diplomatic narrative has prevailed globally, particularly in wake of Pakistan-India war and attacks on Iran.

In a high-level in-camera session held in Parliament House on Friday, Senator Siddiqui stated, “The Foreign Office has played a brilliant role in representing Pakistan’s position in the context of two consecutive wars and presenting a steady narrative to the world.”

Senator Siddiqui also acknowledged the contributions of committee members Senator Sherry Rehman and Senator Musadik Malik, who, as part of a parliamentary delegation led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, effectively communicated Pakistan’s position to the international community during a critical diplomatic juncture.

The committee was given a comprehensive briefing by Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch and senior Foreign Office officials regarding Pakistan’s stance following attacks on Iran. The officials outlined Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts and shared insights into future regional dynamics.

Addressing questions raised by committee members, Foreign Secretary Baloch emphasised Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace, stating, “All our efforts are focused on establishing lasting peace in the region, for which, Pakistan is playing a very effective role in collaboration with different countries.”

Siddiqui further remarked, “India’s isolation at various international forums is a defeat in itself and our narrative is a victory.”

He credited Pakistan’s principled stance and proactive diplomacy for the shift in global perceptions.

The meeting was attended by senators, Sherry Rehman, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Musadik Malik, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, and Zeeshan Khanzada. The Foreign Office was represented by Foreign Secretary Baloch and other senior officials.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

SINGAPORE: China’s Iranian oil imports surged in June as shipments accelerated before the recent conflict in the region and demand from independent refineries improved, analysts said.

The world’s top oil importer and biggest buyer of Iranian crude brought in more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from June 1-20, according to ship-tracker Vortexa, a record high based on the firm’s data.

Kpler’s data put the month-to-date average of China’s Iranian oil and condensate imports at 1.46 million bpd as of June 27, up from one million bpd in May.

The rising imports are fuelled in part by the accelerated discharge of high volumes of Iranian oil on the water after export loadings from Iran reached a multi-year high of 1.83 million bpd in May, Kpler data showed.

It typically takes at least one month for Iranian oil to reach Chinese ports.

Robust loadings in May and early June mean China’s Iran imports are poised to remain elevated, Kpler and Vortexa analysts said.

Independent Chinese “teapot” refineries, the main buyers of Iranian oil, also showed strong demand for the discount barrels as their stockpiles depleted, said Xu Muyu, Kpler’s senior analyst.

A possible relaxing of US President Donald Trump’s policy on Iranian oil sanctions could further bolster Chinese buying, she added.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Friday he had saved Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from assassination and lashed out at the supreme leader for ingratitude, declaring he would order more bombing if the country tried to pursue nuclear weapons.

In an extraordinary outburst on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran for claiming to have won its war with Israel and said he was halting work on possible sanctions relief.

The tirade came as Iran prepared to hold a state funeral for 60 nuclear scientists and military commanders who were killed in the 12-day bombing blitz Israel launched on June 13.

Iran says the scientists were among a total of at least 627 civilians killed.

Trump said the United States would bomb Iran again “without question” if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.

Iran has consistently denied any ambition to develop a nuclear arsenal.

Trump accused the Iranian leader of ingratitude after Khamenei said in a defiant message that reports of damage to nuclear facilities were exaggerated and that Tehran had dealt Washington a “slap” in the face.

“I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump posted.

“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’”

Trump also said that he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran’s main demands.

“But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” Trump added, exhorting Iran to return to the negotiating table.

Iran has denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States, after Trump said that negotiations were set to begin again next week.

Its government on Friday rejected a request by Rafael Grossi, the director of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, to visit facilities bombed by Israel and the United States, saying it suggested “malign intent.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit out at Grossi personally in a post on X for not speaking out against the air strikes, accusing him of an “astounding betrayal of his duties.” Asked earlier in a White House press conference whether he would consider fresh air strikes if last week’s sorties were not successful in ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Trump said: “Sure. Without question. Absolutely.”

Trump added that Khamenei and Iran “got beat to hell”. The war of words came with a fragile ceasefire holding in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

WASHINGTON: Conflicts and related fatalities have more than tripled since the early 2000s, fuelling extreme poverty, the World Bank said Friday.

Economies in fragile and conflict-affected regions have become “the epicentre of global poverty and food insecurity, a situation increasingly shaped by the frequency and intensity of conflict,” the bank added in a new study.

This year, 421 million shaped by the frequency and intensity of conflict,” the bank added in a new study.

This year, 421 million people get by on less than $3 a day in places hit by conflict or instability — a situation of extreme poverty — and the number is poised to hit 435 million by 2030.

Global attention has been focused on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East for the past three years, said World Bank Group chief economist Indermit Gill.

But “half of the countries facing conflict or instability today have been in such conditions for 15 years or more,” he added.

Currently, 39 economies are classified as facing such conditions, and 21 of them are in active conflict, the Washington-based development lender said.

The list includes Ukraine, Somalia, South Sudan and the West Bank and Gaza.

It also includes Iraq although not Iran.

The report flagged that moves to prevent conflict can bring high returns, with timely interventions being “far more cost-effective than responding after violence erupts.”

It also said that some of these economies have advantages that could be used to reignite growth, noting that places like Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo are rich in minerals key to clean tech like electric vehicles and solar panels.

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam said that Iranian Parliament, government and its people expressed gratitude to the Parliament, people, and government of Pakistan for their unwavering support during Iran-Israel war.

The ambassador expressed these views in a meeting with Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at Parliament House on Friday. Deputy Speaker National Assembly Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Federal Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Naqvi were also present.

Iranian Ambassador expressed deep gratitude to the Speaker and the people of Pakistan for their consistent and heartfelt support. He acknowledged Pakistan as a true and reliable friend, especially in difficult times. He thanked Speaker Sadiq for being the first to express solidarity with Iran following the Israeli attack and praised Pakistan’s principled stance in supporting Iran across all international platforms.

Ambassador Moghadam also conveyed appreciation on behalf of the Iranian Parliament and government to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Parliament of Pakistan, and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for their unwavering support. He stated that Israel’s attack was a deliberate attempt to damage Iran’s nuclear programme, and that Israel’s weakening position led to the United States becoming directly involved in the conflict.

Finally, the Iranian ambassador lauded Pakistan’s positive and constructive role in supporting peace and stability across the region. He emphasised the importance of strengthening parliamentary cooperation as a means to further deepen ties between the two countries and acknowledged the Speaker’s commendable efforts in fostering bilateral engagement.

National Assembly Speaker Sadiq has said that Pakistan and Iran enjoys cordial ties rooted in shared religion, history, and cultural heritage. He reaffirmed that the friendship between the two neighbouring countries continues to grow stronger with time.

Welcoming the announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, the Speaker emphasised that what the world needs today is not more war, but a renewed commitment to peace. He reiterated that Pakistan has always played a proactive role in promoting peace and stability in the region. Referring to recent regional tensions, he highlighted Pakistan’s firm and effective response to Indian aggression, said that the events clearly exposed the strategic alliance between India and Israel.

The Speaker has also stated that a successful outcome for Iran and Pakistan in these turbulent times would further solidify their bilateral partnership. He pointed out that India’s negative and unconstructive role in the Iran-Israel conflict provides Iran with an opportunity to reconsider its diplomatic and strategic ties with India. He also expressed deep sorrow over the loss of over 50,000 Palestinian lives due to Israeli aggression, calling it a tragedy that has deeply affected every Pakistani.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

“What’s the difference between US politicians and their Pakistani counterparts?”

“The bravado about ending the hold of the deep state on…”

“Nope, that’s not it.”

“How about the power of money in decision-making?”

“I guess you are referring to the Israeli lobby and the power of big business, oligarchs is how they are being referred to and…”

“But we too have elite capture.”

“Hmmm, so what is the difference?”

“Let me give you a hint: threat of name change. Trump has renamed the Gulf of Mexico…”

“And named, not renamed, named the Israeli Iran war as the 12-day war. Granted that it’s not that original, as another of the numerous wars associated with Israel was the seven-day war…”

“I thought it was very, very, well named.”

“I can detect shades of Rutte – the NATO head whose message on social media was embarrassingly fawning and…”

“The fawning was a private message, Trump simply uploaded it on his…”

“Right, right. But in the case of our politicians they constantly threaten that they would change their names if what they are saying is not the truth, and so far no change.”

“I will have you know that party leaders rename themselves from a select pool of names, and the current names have simply reverted to the original.”

“How many names are in that pool?”

“Hmmmmm, cough, cough, cough…”

“Spill it.”

“I believe….well around ten in some cases fifteen in others and…”

“You being facetious?”

“Scout’s honour.”

“Do scouts have honour?”

“Scout’s honour as stipulated in their charter, look at it as if it’s the constitution and…”

“Dear lord.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Recent geopolitical flashpoints — the four-day military engagement between India and Pakistan and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel—have unveiled two compelling realities.

First, despite the shifting tides of multi-polarity, the United States remains the most consequential actor in global power politics. Second, the long-standing regional myths of invincibility and dominance by India’s in South Asia and Israel’s in the Middle East have been irreversibly challenged.

In both crises, the US emerged not only as a mediator but as the ultimate arbiter of dispute resolution and end of hostilities between the said warring nations.

President Donald Trump’s assertive and decisive phone calls, whether by official design or calculated spectacle, succeeded in arresting escalations that could have spiraled into regional wars - a feat that a world body like the UN could not have achieved so decisively and in so short a time. Washington’s capacity to stop two simultaneous conflicts in volatile regions underscores its unmatched diplomatic leverage and military deterrence even in an era of a waning uni-polarity.

Equally significant, however, is what these conflicts revealed about the internal dynamics of their respective regions. In South Asia, the India-Pakistan skirmish exposed the limits of New Delhi’s regional hegemony.

The conflict demonstrated not only Pakistan’s strategic resilience but also the geopolitical reality that India is not unilaterally dominant in the subcontinent. Both nations, despite their historical asymmetries in size and economy, were treated as equals by global powers in diplomatic terms. This is a notable departure from narratives of Indian supremacy and highlights the strategic agency of smaller states in the region.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the twelve-day Israel-Iran conflict similarly unsettled long-held perceptions. While Israel has historically enjoyed technological and military edge, Iran’s retaliatory capacity, endurance, and regional alliances gave it a credible deterrent posture.

The myth of Israel’s absolute military superiority took a hit—not necessarily in battlefield metrics, but in the psychological and diplomatic perceptions that govern modern deterrence theory. Iran showed it could absorb strikes, retaliate meaningfully, and force negotiations—all while maintaining a regional influence structure through proxies.

In the wake of the recent India-Pakistan military standoff and the 12-day Israel-Iran war, the global spotlight focused not only on the crisis resolution but also on the visible absence of direct intervention from China and Russia—two major global powers often seen as the principal challengers to US influence. Despite their strategic relationships with Pakistan and Iran respectively, Beijing and Moscow exercised strategic restraint.

The absence of direct Chinese and Russian intervention in support of Pakistan and Iran is perhaps not a sign of weakness—it is a calculated strategic posture consistent with their long-term vision of a multi-polar world. Their restraint reflects an understanding that global influence in the 21st century is shaped as much by stability, economic entrenchment, and ideological appeal as by military might.

China and Russia prioritize strategic stability over tactical opportunism, particularly in regions where overt engagement could spiral into uncontrollable escalation. Both powers prefer the doctrine of strategic patience and to leverage the US burden to preserve their influence through non-military tools such as diplomacy, infrastructure investment, arms sales, and cyber presence.

Also, China’s risk calculus avoids getting embroiled in wars that could endanger its global economic interests or supply chains. This strategy has paid off in China’s rise as the second biggest economy of the world. It is important to note that China backed Pakistan by providing it with the means of air force and missile superiority over India and Iran with missile superiority over Israel — which proved to be a turning point in both the said conflicts. Additionally, Russia, heavily engaged in Ukraine and under severe Western sanctions, seeks to avoid opening a second front or worsening its diplomatic isolation.

In an era where multi-polarity is often taken as a given, recent history just offered a blunt reality check: the United States still sits at the top of the global power pyramid. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the growing BRICS bloc may be reshaping economic partnerships, but when conflict erupts, it’s still Washington—not Beijing or Moscow—that the world turns to.

While critics will debate whether Trump’s methods are sustainable, the facts on the ground are clear: the global order may be evolving, but America’s authority—particularly in moments of crisis—remains unchallenged. China is just not yet ready to overtly exercise its authority into the internal affairs of other countries nor into their wars or conflicts. Much of the same holds true for Russia.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

ISLAMABAD: Defending the decision to nominate US President for Nobel Peace Prize, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan still backs its choice and considers Donald J Trump as a “Man of Peace”.

“The decision rests with the Norwegian committee. We are uncaring to the outcome, having only acknowledged what Donald Trump initiated,” Dar told this during a news conference here at the Foreign Office (FO) on Friday to brief the media about his recent multi-nation foreign tours.

The foreign minister clarified that both the government and the establishment recommended US President for the peace prize in a letter signed on June 11. “We consider Donald Trump the ‘Man of Peace’ and I myself signed the nomination letter,” he remarked.

Pakistan recommends US President for Nobel Peace

“Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in raising the Kashmir issue, as this matter had been sidelined since the former US President Bill Clinton era,” Dar added.

He; however, claimed that Trump’s willingness to arbitrate to settle Kashmir dispute and assure a peaceful resolution marked a significant shift in global perception. He stated that a tariff accord with the United States is set to be announced on “win-win” basis.

Dar announced that China has principally agreed to Pakistan’s proposal to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. In addition, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are set to sign a trilateral railway framework agreement with Afghanistan in the near future for better regional connectivity and economic cooperation.

He said that Pakistan and the UAE have signed a protocol during the Pakistan-UAE Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting in Abu Dhabi for visa exemption for Pakistan’s diplomatic and official passports holders.

With regard to economic cooperation, the Emirate leadership has agreed to invest in Pakistan in a manner similar to its previous deposits with the State Bank of Pakistan, Dar said. He disclosed there were positive developments in long-stalled negotiations with Etisalat to settle the issue pending for last 18 years.

To a query, Dar said Pakistan continues to plead for improved visa processes for its citizens.

Responding to questions, DPM/ FM reiterated that Pakistan did not seek or begged a ceasefire with India but agreed to it in a dignified manner. “Pakistan is always ready for dialogue— on terrorism, trade, Kashmir, and the Indus Waters Treaty— but only through a composite framework,” he stated.

On Israel, he reaffirmed Pakistan’s stand, stating there would be no recognition until a two-state solution is realised. Pakistan will assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in July, with peaceful resolution of disputes set to be a central theme, Dar announced.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

TEHRAN: Iran on Friday rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit facilities bombed by Israel and the United States, saying that it suggested “malign intent”.

International Atomic Energy Agency director general “Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X.

“Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defence of its interests, its people and its sovereignty.”

Araghchi again hit out at Grossi personally for not speaking out against the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, describing it as an “astounding betrayal of his duties”.

UN nuclear chief urges ‘more transparency’ from Iran

He charged that the IAEA chief had “directly facilitated… the unlawful Israeli and US bombings” by “obfuscating” Iran’s efforts to allay the watchdog’s concerns in a May 31 report that accused it of “less than satisfactory” cooperation.

That report led to the adoption of a censure motion by the IAEA board of governors that Iran says cleared the way for the 12-day war Israel launched on June 13.

The minister’s comments came after the Iranian parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

Araghchi said the new relationship with the IAEA would continue “until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed.”

Grossi had called on Monday for IAEA inspectors to be granted access to Iran’s nuclear facilities so that they could establish what had happened to its large stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Concerns have been raised in Israel and in Western countries fearful of Iran’s ambitions over whether Iran was able to relocate its stockpile before the Israeli and US strikes.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s foreign minister said Friday the world was obliged to stop Iran developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

“Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat against it, the region and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“The international community now has an obligation to prevent, through any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign that it said aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Israel set back Iran nuclear project ‘by years’: military

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

But there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.

Iran on Friday rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying that it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.

TEHRAN: Iran will hold what it described as “historic” funeral proceedings in Tehran on Saturday for 60 killed in its 12-day war with Israel, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

The commemorations will begin at 0800 local time (0430 GMT) at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, followed by a funeral procession to Azadi (Freedom) Square, about 11 kilometres (7 miles) away.

“A brief ceremony will be held there, then the processions of the martyrs will go toward Azadi Square,” said Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, in a televised interview Friday.

“Tomorrow will be a historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution,” he added.

Among the dead is General Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.

Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.

Four women and four children are among those to be honoured at the funeral ceremony.

The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched strikes that it said were aimed at halting Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – a charge Tehran denies.

Israeli strikes killed at least 30 top commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to local media, including its commander-in-chief Hossein Salami and the head of its aerospace forces, Amirali Hajizadeh, who oversaw the country’s ballistic missile programme.

So far, there is no indication that Khamenei will attend the funeral on Saturday.

Alive but weakened, Iran’s Khamenei faces new challenges

He has previously attended ceremonies for high-ranking Iranian authorities, including late president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year.

The Iranian health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and nearly 4,900 wounded in the Israeli attacks.

Iran’s strikes on Israel also killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.

PARIS: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has re-emerged after the war with Israel but faces a struggle to maintain the authority he has wielded over the Islamic republic in over three-and-a-half decades of rule, analysts say.

After days of silence, Khamenei appeared on Thursday in a video address to proclaim “victory” and prove he is still alive following the 12-day conflict with Israel which ended with a truce earlier this week.

But Khamenei, appointed Iran’s number one and spiritual leader for life in 1989, spoke softly and hoarsely in the address, without the charismatic oratory for which he is known.

Whereas his regular interventions before the war usually took place in public in front of an audience, this message was filmed against a plain backdrop of curtains and a picture of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

This may indicate he could still be in hiding after Israel refused to rule out seeking to assassinate him.

On Thursday, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told media that the military would have killed Khamenei during the war if the opportunity had presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan, adding that the military had “searched a lot”.

But in the end, the conflict did not trigger the removal of the system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Still, it enabled Israel to demonstrate military superiority and deep intelligence penetration of Iran by killing key members of Khamenei’s inner circle in targeted strikes.

The war was also the latest in a series of setbacks over the last year for Khamenei.

These include the downgrading of pro-Tehran militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in conflicts with Israel and the fall of Iran’s ally in Syria Bashar al-Assad, against the background of economic crisis and energy shortages at home.

“At this time, the regime does not seem to be on the verge of falling but it is certainly more vulnerable than it has been since the early years after the revolution,” said Thomas Juneau, professor at the University of Ottawa.

‘Diminished figure’

“The authority of the supreme leader has therefore certainly been undermined,” Juneau told AFP.

“Even though his position remains secure, in that there is unlikely to be a direct challenge to his rule for now, he has lost credibility and bears direct responsibility for the Islamic republic’s major losses.”

Khamenei is 86 and suffers the effects of a 1981 assassination attempt in Tehran which paralysed his right arm, a disability he has never made any attempt to hide.

But discussion of succession has remained taboo in Iran, even if Western analysts have long eyed his son Mojtaba as a possible – but far from inevitable – contender.

Supreme leader says Iran would strike back if attacked

Arash Azizi, visiting fellow at Boston University, said Khamenei looked “frail and weak” in his televised message in “a far cry from the grand orator we know”.

“It’s clear that he is a diminished figure, no longer authoritative and a shadow of his former self,” he said.

“Power in Tehran is already passing to different institutions and factions and the battle for his succession will only intensify in the coming period.”

Khamenei has come through crises before, using the state’s levers of repression, most recently during the 2022-2023 protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd detained for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women.

‘Sidelined’?

The New York Times and Iran International, a Persian-language television channel based outside Iran that is critical of the authorities, have said Khamenei spent the war in a bunker avoiding use of digital communication for fear of being tracked and assassinated.

Iran International reported that Khamenei was not even involved in the discussions that led to the truce which were handled by the national security council and President Masoud Pezeshkian. There has been no confirmation of this claim.

Jason Brodsky, policy director at the US-based United Against Nuclear Iran, said Khamenei appeared “frail and hoarse” and also “detached from reality” in insisting that Iran’s nuclear programme did not suffer significant damage.

“Nevertheless, I remain sceptical of the theories that Khamenei has been sidelined,” he told AFP.

“I have no doubt the war will prompt a debate within the Islamic Republic’s political elite as to how best to rebuild the system’s capabilities, but in the end, the buck has always stopped with Khamenei,” he said.

JERUSALEM: Defence Minister Israel Katz told media that Israel would have killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the war between the two countries if the opportunity had presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan Thursday evening, adding that the military had “searched a lot”.

“Khamenei understood this went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan.

He told Israeli television Channel 13 Thursday that Israel would cease its assassination attempts because “there is a difference between before the ceasefire and after the ceasefire”.

Katz had said during the war that Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.

But on Kan, Katz advised Khamenei to remain inside a bunker.

“He should learn from the late Nasrallah, who sat for a long time deep in the bunker”, he said, referring to Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who Israel killed in a Beirut air strike in September 2024.

Israeli defense minister says military killed head of Palestine corps in IRCG’s overseas arm

The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.

Katz said Thursday that Israel maintained its aerial superiority over Iran and that it was ready to strike again.

“We won’t let Iran develop nuclear weapons and threaten (Israel) with long-range missiles”, he said.

In his Channel 12 interview, Katz admitted that Israel does not know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, but that its air strikes had destroyed the Islamic republic’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

“The material itself was not something that was supposed to be neutralised,” he said of the enriched uranium.

The impact of Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme has been a subject to debate.

A leaked US intelligence assessment estimated the programme to have set Iran back a few months, while Katz and other Israeli and US public figures said the damage would take years to rebuild.

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in a 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign that it said aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

DUBAI: Stock markets in the Gulf closed higher on Thursday amid steady oil prices as a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding for a second day.

Markets have been soothed by the ceasefire after 12 days of strikes on each other’s territory. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week.

Dubai’s benchmark stock index extended its rally to a fifth straight session, rising 1.3% to 5,684, its highest level in 17 years. Dubai Islamic Bank climbed 4.9% and tolls operator Salik advanced 2.2%. The Abu Dhabi benchmark index rose 0.8%, aided by a 7.6% surge in RAK Properties and a 4.3% gain for Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.