Pakistan is making a last-ditch effort to prevent the US and Israel from launching a wave of attacks that might cripple life in Iran.
Islamabad, which has acted as a broker in recent peace efforts, asked the US to extend the deadline given to Iran to capitulate to a series of demands.
Pakistan has also asked Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks, as a gesture of goodwill, just hours before the deadline ends.
“Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.
US President Donald Trump had issued yet another warning to Iran if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reached by midnight GMT, threatening that a “whole civilisation will die tonight”.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote on his Truth Social page.
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?
We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!,” he added.
When asked about Trump’s comments, the White House thar the president “is the only person who knows his plans for Iran”.
“The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP, when asked if Trump was prepared to use a nuclear weapon, and about a report that Iran had cut off negotiations.
“Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.”
