Four Powers Gather in Pakistan

As the US-Israel war on Iran entered its thirtieth day, the capitals of four key regional powers — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan — converged on Islamabad on Sunday for a high-stakes diplomatic push. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also holds the deputy prime minister portfolio, announced after the talks that his country was prepared to host direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran in the coming days. He told reporters that both Iran and the United States had expressed confidence in Pakistan as a facilitator. The meeting produced no breakthrough, but represented the most coordinated multilateral diplomatic effort since the war began on February 28.

Pakistan has emerged as the conflict’s primary messenger, occupying a delicate middle position: Islamabad has close ties to both Washington — where relations warmed significantly after Trump reportedly developed a personal rapport with Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir — and Tehran, with whom it shares a border and historical religious ties. Political analysts monitoring the situation described Pakistan’s role as one of passing messages rather than mediating agreements, noting that Islamabad lacks the hard leverage to impose solutions on either side.

Iran Rejects US Framework, Threatens Campus Strikes

The diplomatic atmosphere was further complicated by Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who characterised the Islamabad talks as a cover for a planned US ground assault. He said Iranian forces were waiting for any American boots on Iranian soil and would respond decisively. The remarks came as the US military confirmed that a Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Tripoli, carrying approximately three thousand five hundred troops, had arrived in the region. The US military declined to specify potential deployment locations, but speculation immediately centred on a possible move to secure or seize the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran separately issued an ultimatum demanding that the US government officially condemn Israeli strikes on Iranian universities before noon on March 30. Failure to do so, Tehran warned, would result in American-affiliated university campuses in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates being designated legitimate military targets. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed that dozens of Iranian universities and research centres — including the Iran University of Science and Technology and Isfahan University of Technology — had been hit in Israeli strikes. Iran also drafted its own five-point peace proposal through state media, calling for a halt to assassinations of Iranian officials, guarantees against future attacks, reparations and recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz — terms directly at odds with the US fifteen-point framework. The war’s death toll has climbed past three thousand people since fighting began.