The Latest: Pakistan says US-Iran mediation moving ahead after Trump holds back envoys
U.S. President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran on Saturday.
“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” Trump said on social media.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won’t negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the U.S. “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Pakistan’s top political and military leadership is continuing to mediate between the U.S. and Iran, with indirect ceasefire talks still alive despite mounting tensions between the sides, two Pakistani officials said Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, officials said. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The move announced Friday is part of the administration’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran’s oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun canceling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is canceled.
Here is the latest:
Israeli president delays decision on Netanyahu request to halt trial
Israeli President Isaac Herzog delayed a decision on a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his corruption trial.
Herzog’s office said the president has stated “on several occasions” that a settlement between Netanyahu and prosecutors is the best way to resolve the case and this position hasn’t changed.
“The president therefore believes that before addressing the pardon request itself, efforts should first be exhausted to reach an agreement between the parties, outside the courtroom,” the office said.
The announcement marked a setback for Netanyahu, who faces new elections later this year. It also came despite multiple calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for Herzog to end the trial.
Netanyahu filed his request in November, saying that dropping corruption charges against him would help unify the country. His office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in Gaza
At least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces Sunday morning in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.
Two men were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of people in the Kuwait roundabout in southeastern Gaza City, according to Shifa hospital, which received the casualties.
Another man was shot and killed close to the Saqqa mosque in central Gaza, the hospital said.
Nasser hospital said a 40-year-old woman was shot and killed by Israeli forces close to the Turkish slaughterhouse in the southern part of Khan Younis city.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deaths were the latest among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fired on Palestinians near military-held zones.
At least 811 Palestinians have been killed including at least 226 children and 179 women, according to Gaza health officials.
Israeli military tells Lebanese in 7 towns to flee ahead of strikes
Israel’s military on Sunday warned Lebanese living in seven southern towns to flee their homes ahead of strikes in the area.
Col. Avichay Adraea, a military spokesman, claimed without evidence that Hezbollah violated a ceasefire deal between Lebanon and Israel. He didn’t provide evidence.
Adraea said in a social media post that the military will operate in the area south of Zahrani river and ordered the residents to leave.
Israel previously issued a sweeping warning for people in southern Lebanon to flee their homes during its war against Hezbollah.
Analyst says indirect US-Iran talks progressing
Syed Mohammad Ali, an independent political analyst in Pakistan, said indirect talks between the United States and Iran were progressing despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision not to send envoys to talks that had been set to begin this weekend.
“The delay in the second round of Islamabad talks must not be seen as a setback to ceasefire negotiations and peace efforts, which remain on track,” Ali told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Ali said ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran cannot be eased overnight and the negotiation process “requires wisdom and patience from both sides.”
“This is a sensitive and complicated process, and there will be ups and downs, which are normal in such matters. But the good thing is that the ceasefire is holding, and both sides have a desire to end the conflict in a way that does not backfire at home,” Ali said.
Pakistan mediation attempts moving forward
Pakistan’s top political and military leadership is continuing to mediate between the United States and Iran, with indirect ceasefire talks still alive despite mounting tensions between the sides, two Pakistani officials said Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Sunday evening for a second visit in as many days after a short trip to Oman.
Araghchi was in Islamabad on Saturday and presented Tehran’s position on ending the regional conflict to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other senior officials.
There were no immediate plans for U.S. envoys to return for talks, according to the Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Netanyahu expresses shock after shots fired at event attended by Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Sunday morning he was shocked by what he called an “attempted assassination” at an event attended by Trump.
Trump was uninjured and rushed off the stage at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night after a man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside the event in Washington.
Police believe the man opened fire and acted alone but did not say who was his intended target or describe a motive. He was taken into custody.
One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said.
“We send our wishes for a full and speedy recovery to the wounded police officer and salute the US Secret Service for their swift and decisive action,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
Islamabad resumes normal life
Life began returning to normal in Pakistan’s capital on Sunday morning.
Authorities in Islamabad eased near-lockdown measures imposed during a week of heightened security prior to planned ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran.
The restrictions enforced across Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi disrupted daily life for hundreds of thousands. Commuters were forced to make long detours, traffic thinned along major arteries and parents struggled to reach schools.
By Sunday, barriers were being lifted and traffic was gradually building on the city’s main roads. Residents described a sense of relief after days of gridlock and uncertainty.
The government said in a social media post late Saturday that tourist destinations, parks and bus terminals were being reopened.
Security remained tight around the heavily guarded Red Zone, home to key government buildings and the site where U.S.-Iran talks were held earlier this month.
Iran hangs man convicted of terrorism
Iran on Sunday hanged a man who was convicted of carrying out terrorist activities in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, state media reported.
Amer Ramesh was hanged after the country’s Supreme Court upheld a death sentence issued by a primary court, according to Iran’s judiciary news outlet, Mizanonline.
Mizanonline did not report where he was hanged or when and where he was arrested.
Mizanonline said Ramesh received training in a regional country and was a member of militant group Jaish al-Adl, which reportedly aims to achieve greater rights for people in the Baloch ethnic group.
Iran has executed other people over similar charges and in recent weeks has hanged more than a dozen people accused of terrorist activities.
Iran’s president tells US to end blockade to negotiate
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won’t negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the U.S. “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iranian foreign minister plans a return to Pakistan
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”