Page 24 - Latest Updates on West Asia Conflict

No decision yet for next round of negotiations with US, says Iran

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said Tehran did not have plans yet to attend any talks with the United States. He did not rule out Iran attending talks. Authorities in Islamabad had been making preparations for another round that could potentially happen there this week. "So far, while I am here, we have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has been made in this regard," Baghaei said during a news conference.

Doubts over talks between Iran, US as tensions rise in Strait of Hormuz

Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place. Over the weekend, the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were "clear signs" of Washington's disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported. With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 24 hours with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. They spoke on condition o

Over 3,300 people, including 383 children killed in Iran during war

Iran on Monday offered a new death toll for the war with Israel and the United States, with its forensic chief saying at least 3,375 people had been killed in the conflict. The figure came from Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organisation. Masjedi, quoted by the judiciary's Mizan news agency and other outlets Monday, said only four of the dead remain unidentified. His comments did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under. Masjedi's figures raised questions about whether or not they included security force members, particularly given the levels of intense bombings targeting military bases and arsenals in the country.

'Monumental setback': Congress slams govt over Pak's role in US-Iran talks

The Congress on Monday took a swipe at the Modi government over Pakistan's role in the US-Iran peace talks, saying Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir becoming a "huge favourite" of American President Donald Trump is a "monumental setback" for India which needs a complete overhaul of its diplomatic engagement strategy. The opposition party claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "simply incapable" of the overhaul of India's diplomatic engagement strategy that is needed. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The 'dalal' country, as the erudite and always nattily dressed External Affairs Minister described it, is reportedly hosting the second round of US-Iran peace talks today." After the completion of the first round of these talks on April 12th, Pakistan borrowed USD 6 billion from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to repay a USD 3.5 billion loan taken from the UAE and to retire a USD 1.43 billion tranche of Eurobonds, he pointed

West Asia war: Trump to send team to Pak; Iran rejects talks citing breach

Trump says US officials will visit Pakistan for Iran talks as ceasefire nears end; Iran denies agreeing to talks, accusing the US of violating the truce and raising tensions further

Iran launches drones at US warships after attack on its commercial vessel

Iran also claimed that US forces stationed in the Sea of Oman were forced to retreat after firing at an Iranian merchant vessel

Committed to advancing regional peace, security: Pak PM to Iranian Prez

Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, during his telephonic conversation with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, reaffirmed the country's "honest" and "sincere" efforts to advance regional peace and security. During the approximately 45-minute conversation on Sunday, the two leaders engaged in detailed exchanges on the current regional situation, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Prime Minister Sharif thanked President Pezeshkian and the Iranian leadership for sending their high-powered delegation, led by Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, for talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12. The US and Iran held rare direct talks in Pakistan on April 11 and 12 in Islamabad aimed at ending their conflict, but the talks concluded without any agreement. US President Donald Trump's announcement of the fresh round of talks raised hopes of extending a two-week ceasefire that expires by Wednesday. Also on Sunday, Trump announced t

Pakistan juggles mediation role abroad, deepening power crisis at home

Blackouts, LNG shortages and policy lapses hit Pakistan as it hosts key US-Iran talks amid rising energy stress

Traders brace for renewed turmoil as Strait of Hormuz standoff deepens

Iran said it would skip a second round of US-Iran talks in Islamabad this week while the American naval blockade remained in place

Iran rejects second round of talks in Pak, cites 'ceasefire breach' by US

Iran cites 'excessive demands' and ceasefire breach by United States, rejects claims of second-round talks in Pakistan

'Hormuz security is not free', says Iran amid rising tensions with US

The remarks come amid escalating tensions in the region following Iran's confirmation that a US operation targeted an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman

Oil rebounds over 6% after renewed US-Iran standoff in Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the US prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies. The price of US crude oil increased 6.4 per cent to USD 87.88 per barrel after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 6.5 per cent to USD 96.25 per barrel. The market reaction followed more than two days of growing hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Iran, which effectively controls the passage, said Friday that it would fully reopen the passage off its coast to commercial traffic. Crude prices plunged more than 9 per cent on the news. Tehran reversed its decision on Saturday, after President Donald Trump said a US Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. Over the weekend, Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired on several vessels. Trump reported the forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged car

Best of BS Opinion: Govt must build consensus for Constitutional amendments

From the setback to the women's quota Bill and rising fertiliser subsidies to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, here is a curated selection of Business Standard's top Opinion pieces today

US Navy seizes Iranian-flagged ship near Hormuz, Tehran vows swift response

The United States attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, and Iran's joint military command vowed to respond, throwing a fragile ceasefire into question days before it expires. It was the first interception since the US blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said. With the US-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump's earlier announcement that US negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for new talks with Iran now stood. The uncertainty sent oil prices rising again. One of the worst global energy crises in decades threatened to deepen. Trump on social media said a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned the Iranian-flagged ship, the Touska, to stop and then ..

Iran doubles down on closing Strait of Hormuz as ceasefire nears end

Iran doubled down on its pledge to restrict ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, as mediators scrambled to secure further talks before the ceasefire expires this week. Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised interview that Tehran would continue to threaten commercial vessels transiting the critical waterway, after it fired on ships attempting to pass on Saturday. "It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot," Qalibaf, who is Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the United States, said. Iran's navy has warned ships against transiting the strait, a chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally passes. After a brief uptick in transit attempts on Saturday, vessels in the Persian Gulf held their positions, wary after two India-flagged ships were fired on mid-transit and forced to turn back. Their retreat returned the Strait

Hormuz tensions, Lebanon clashes undermine Trump peace deal hopes

US military is preparing to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters in coming days to pressure Iran into reopening the waterway

Iran fires on ships in Strait of Hormuz as Tehran imposes curbs again

The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz escalated again Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass, in retaliation after the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports. The strait is closed until the US blockade is lifted, Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy said Saturday night, warning that "no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as cooperation with the enemy" and be targeted. New attacks on the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally passes, threatened to deepen the global energy crisis and push the countries into renewed conflict as the war entered its eighth week. A fragile ceasefire is due to run out by Wednesday. Iran said it had received new proposals from the United States, and Pakistani mediators were working to arrange another round of direct negotiations. Iran'

Pak plunging into darkness as war in Persian Gulf cuts off oil, gas supply

The crunch could not come at a worse time for Pakistan, just as the heat rises ahead of the monsoon season, boosting air conditioner use and power demand

US, Iran cite progress in talks as uncertainty hangs over Strait of Hormuz

Neither side offered any specifics about the state of negotiations, days before a fragile ceasefire in the US-Israeli war against Iran is set to expire

West Asia conflict revives stagflation dangers for global economy

Whether the twin blows affecting growth and inflation seen in purchasing manager indexes after the first month of the Iran conflict intensified during month two will be a key focus