Iran confirms it has reached a deal with the US to end fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

US President Donald Trump announces an end to Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports and says the Strait of Hormuz will reopen on Friday when the agreement is signed in Switzerland.

Trump slams Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for nearly derailing the deal and says the Israeli leader “should be very thankful” for the US diplomatic efforts.

World leaders welcome the agreement as oil prices drop and markets rally in Asia.

Israeli defence chief vows to occupy southern Lebanon despite deal

⁠Israel will not withdraw ⁠from territory it ⁠seized in Lebanon and if ‌Iran attacks it over events in Lebanon Israel ⁠will retaliate, says Israel’s ⁠Defence Minister Israel Katz. ⁠

Lebanon was drawn into the conflict when fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2. An April ceasefire in Lebanon was never observed, and the fighting has continued despite a new conditional truce deal announced last week after Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir says ‘Trump’s agreement does not bind us’

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says Israel is not a “subordinate of the United States”.

“We are an independent and sovereign nation,” he said on X, adding: “We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way.”

“We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah, we must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have captured and cleared of terror infrastructure, we must not return to a situation where thousands of terrorists sit on the fences of northern settlements, and certainly we must not remain silent for a moment in the face of fire directed at the State of Israel,” the minister added.

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L’article Analysis. Tehran says ‘peace deal’ ends US blockade, war on all fronts est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

A total of 3,666 people have been killed and 11,321 have been injured since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s National News Agency reports, citing figures from the country’s Ministry of Public Health.

This latest figure, which covers the period from 2 March to 9 June, rose from 3,637 deaths and 11,188 injuries reported by the health ministry on Monday.

Israeli forces kill nine people in Tyre city after issuing forced displacement orders, as it continues deadly attacks on southern Lebanon.

US President Donald Trump says he’s in the “final throes” of a deal with Iran after a dangerous escalation with Israel and suggests an agreement will be done in days.

Iran warns fighting will resume if Israel continues its “aggression”, including bombing Lebanon.

US Vice President JD Vance says any deal with Iran would be good for people in the US, whether Israel likes it or not.

China calls for ‘concrete actions to cool down situation’ in Middle East

Beijing has urged all sides to avoid escalating the US-Israel war on Iran stressing military action cannot resolve disputes among nations.

“The three-month-long US-Israel-Iran conflict has hit countries in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region hard,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian in a statement.

“At this critical juncture of Iran-US negotiations, no one should reignite military conflict. Regional countries’ sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected and upheld.”

The three-month-long U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict has hit countries in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region hard. Facts have proven that military means provide no solution, and arbitrary use of force will only complicate the issue.

At this critical juncture of Iran-U.S.… pic.twitter.com/UV210yrrc8

— Lin Jian 林剑 (@SpoxCHN_LinJian) June 9, 2026

Iran ‘unwilling to let go of’ Hezbollah security role in Lebanon

Ronnie Chatah, host of the Beirut Banyan podcast, says continued Iranian influence over Lebanon through its ally Hezbollah – a relationship Iran appears unwilling to relinquish – remains a major obstacle to stability in Lebanon.

“Lebanon cannot function, Lebanon cannot be governable so long as this security arrangement exists,” Chatah told Al Jazeera. “Lebanon is a battlefield for the Iranian regime.”

He argued that Hezbollah’s popularity “has diminished significantly” during Israel’s attacks on the country.

“The Lebanese government has made gestures towards sovereignty, it has delegitimised Hezbollah’s weapons, it deems all IRGC activity in this country illegal. Yet until now, Iran is unwilling to let go of this country,” said Chatah.

“I think the Iranian regime can negotiate on everything else – it can negotiate on the Strait of Hormuz, it can negotiate on nuclear technology, but up until now it is refusing to negotiate on Hezbollah.”

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L’article Analysis . Israel pounds Lebanon; Trump says deal may come within days.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces conducted “self-defence” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island and “defeated multiple” Iranian missiles and drones, as civilian vessels and regional allies Kuwait and Bahrain came under attack.

Kuwait’s military said air defence systems intercepted incoming drones and missiles, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said warning sirens were activated.

Iran’s Tasnim new agency cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirming it launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks on US bases in the region, but did not name Kuwait or Bahrain, following the Qeshm strikes.

US President Donald Trump has hit back at reports that negotiations with Iran to end the war have stalled, saying that “conversations between us have been going on continuously”.

Israel continues its deadly bombing campaign in southern Lebanon a day after Trump said that Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, had agreed to call off planned attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

At least 3,468 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2, with 10,577 injured, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports.

US military says Iran attacks on Kuwait ‘failed to impact targets’

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has posted more information about the overnight tit-for-tat strikes with Iranian forces.

The command earlier said it launched “self defence” fire “in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East”.

“Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended targets. Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart enroute, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by US and Bahrain air defense forces,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

An additional wave of Iranian drones attempting to attack U.S. forces in Kuwait failed to impact intended targets tonight. U.S. Central Command air defenses successfully downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed.

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 3, 2026

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L’article US hits Iran’s Qeshm, says Tehran targeted Kuwait, Bahrain.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has held “highly productive talks” with the Iranian leadership in Tehran, resulting in “encouraging progress towards a final understanding” between the United States and Iran, according to the Pakistani army.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also said “some progress” had been made through the Pakistani mediation, adding that “there is ⁠a chance that, whether it’s ⁠later today, ⁠tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to ‌say”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says that Iran “decided to focus the negotiations on ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon”, refusing to discuss its nuclear programme.

Israel continues to launch air strikes on southern Lebanon after killing at least 3,123 people since March 2, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Setareh Sadeqi, assistant professor at the University of Tehran, spoke to Al Jazeera about the seemingly encouraging signs emerging from Pakistan towards a final understanding between Iran and the United States.

“I think there is a clear message that there is a regional desire to come to an agreement and make it happen between the United States and Iran,” said Sadeqi.

But she cautioned the messaging from all sides remains “very contradictory”.

“We’re seeing both parties talking about being very close, but at the same time being far and that the military option is on the table and it could happen within even hours, if not days,” she added.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said he was close to restarting the war before Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE urged him not to and to continue negotiations.

“The Pakistani officials are also saying that there are still points that need to be settled, and that means that it has actually not been finalised,” added Sadeqi.

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L’article Pakistan. Iran-US talks show progress but statements ‘very contradictory’.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

People living close to the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak which has killed 131 people have told BBC News of their fear, as a World Health Organization (WHO) representative warned cases may be spreading faster than originally thought.

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared a public health emergency of international concern, by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The latest outbreak is challenging because it involves a rare strain of Ebola for which there is no vaccine, and cases have been found in an area affected by conflict.

One man in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, said infected people were dying « very fast », and added: « Ebola has tortured us. »

Officials said more than 513 cases were suspected in DR Congo as of Tuesday, while one person has died in neighbouring Uganda.

The WHO’s Dr Anne Ancia told the BBC that the more the agency investigates the outbreak, the clearer it becomes cases have spread to other areas.

Modelling by the London-based MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis released on Monday suggested there had been « substantial » under-detection, and that it could not rule out there had already been more than 1,000 cases.

The study suggested that the current outbreak is « larger than currently ascertained » and that its « true magnitude remains uncertain ».

A man who spoke to BBC News and identified himself as Bigboy said people are « really scared » and doing what they can to protect themselves.

He said locals are taking precautions such as washing hands with clean water, but added that he wished they could get access to other protective supplies such as face masks.

Another Ituri local, Alfred Giza, said people in the community are aware of the threat and waiting to receive face masks to protect themselves, but that he would not know what to do if a family member or friend contracted the disease.

The Red Cross warned that Ebola can escalate quickly if cases are not identified early, communities lack information and health systems are overwhelmed, adding that « we are seeing all those conditions » in the current outbreak.

On Tuesday, DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi called for « calm » and urged Congolese citizens to remain vigilant, after holding a crisis meeting on Monday evening.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who declared the outbreak an international emergency last week, said he was « deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic ».

It is feared the outbreak may have been ongoing for several weeks before it was first detected on 24 April.

There is no vaccine for the strain of Ebola virus fuelling the latest rise in cases, but the WHO is evaluating whether other drugs may provide protection.

Speaking to BBC Newsday, Ancia said DR Congo’s Ituri province was a « very unsecured area with lots of movement of population », making it difficult for the agency to investigate and help control the disease.

She continued: « The more we are investigating this outbreak, the more we realise that it has already disseminated at least a little bit across border and also in other provinces. »

The outbreak has spread to the province of South Kivu, where the population has been affected by a humanitarian crisis for many years, she added.

There has also been a case in eastern DR Congo’s biggest city, Goma, which has a population of around 850,000 people and under the control of Rwandan-backed rebels.

High levels of insecurity in several provinces mean people move around often, increasing the risk and spread of the virus, she said.

Several African countries are taking precautions by tightening border screenings and preparing health facilities. Neighbouring Rwanda has also closed its borders with DR Congo. Uganda has told people to avoid hugging and shaking hands.

An American citizen, believed to be missionary group doctor Peter Stafford, is being evacuated from DR Congo after developing symptoms over the weekend.

Germany’s health ministry told the BBC a US citizen was being taken to the country for treatment.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was working to evacuate at least six other Americans who were exposed.

WHO and other agencies are working with governments and communities to try to stop the spread of the virus, urging residents to follow preventative measures and report to the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms.

What is Ebola and how does it spread?

Ebola is caused by a virus and initially causes symptoms similar to the flu, with fever, headache and tiredness.

As the disease progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop and it can lead to organ failure. Some, but not all, patients develop internal and external bleeding.

The virus spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

The Bundibugyo strain fuelling this rise in cases is rare, and has previously only caused two outbreaks, when it killed about a third of those infected.

Between 2014 and 2016, more than 28,600 people were infected by Ebola in West Africa, the largest outbreak of the virus since its discovery in 1976.

It was caused by the Zaire strain, for which there is an approved vaccine.

The disease spread to a number of countries in West Africa and beyond, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, the US, UK and Italy, killing 11,325 people.

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Hate speech against religious minorities in India rose last year. Experts say far-right RSS is doing ‘damage control’.

India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the Hindu far right, says it is organising visits to the United States and other Western countries to bolster its public image globally and dispel claims it is involved in violence against religious minority groups in India.

The visits announced on Tuesday come amid international criticism regarding minority rights in India and a few months after a US federal agency published a report accusing the group of carrying out acts of violence against minorities for decades.

Here is more about the RSS, and what’s behind the visits to Western nations.

What is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh?

The RSS is a right-wing Hindu volunteer organisation founded in 1925 by physician and Hindu nationalist Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur, modern-day Maharashtra.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, sometimes called the Sangh for short, is Hindi for National Volunteer Organisation.

The RSS works across society, operating schools, hospitals, magazines and publishing houses, to advocate for the idea of Hindutva, a Hindu supremacist idea that aims to turn India from a constitutionally secular state into a Hindu one.

The RSS describes itself as a “Hindu-centric civilisational, cultural movement” that aims to “carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory”. It leads a network of more than 2,500 right-wing Hindu organisations called the Sangh Parivar, Hindi for RSS family.

“RSS is known as a fascist organisation because if you look at the writings of the first ideologues of RSS, they bring inspiration from Mussolini and Hitler,” Apoorvanand, a Hindi professor at the University of Delhi who writes literary and cultural criticism, told Al Jazeera.

BS Moonje, a Hindu Mahasabha party leader and mentor to Hedgewar, met Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1931, openly admired fascist youth and military organisations and saw them as a model for organising Hindu society.

MS Golwalkar, the second RSS chief, wrote a book in 1939 titled We, or Our Nationhood Defined, in which he cited Nazi Germany’s treatment of minorities as an example of preserving racial or national purity.

“You will find admiration towards the policies of Hitler. This is how they wanted to deal with the Muslims and Christians in India,” Apoorvanand, who goes by his first name, said.

“In the present times, their source of inspiration is Israel because Israel is also following the same policy towards Muslims and Christians – to eliminate them completely.”

The RSS has been banned in India several times, including in 1948 after a former member assassinated independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

Does the RSS have ties to the government?

The RSS is often described as the ideological mothership of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP was formed in 1980 by former leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), including Hindu nationalist leader and poet Atal Bihari Vajpayee, after their split from the Janata Party coalition.

The BJP first came to power briefly in 1996 with Vajpayee as prime minister, but he resigned after 13 days when he failed to gain support for his government from a majority of members of parliament. He won again in 1998 and served as prime minister for 13 months before losing a no-confidence vote. Vajpayee later served a stable term from 1999 to 2004.

Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been a member of the RSS since 1972, began his first term in 2014, marking the first time the BJP had won a single-party majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. In June 2024, Modi was sworn in as India’s prime minister for a third term. Modi, 75, joined the BJP in 1987.

Are hate crimes against minorities on the rise in India?

In 2025, incidents of hate speech against minorities in India, including Muslims and Christians, rose by 13 percent, according to the India Hate Lab, a United States-based research group. The majority of these instances occurred in states and union territories governed by the BJP.

Since 2015, a number of Muslims in India have been lynched by mobs during disputes about herding cattle or over allegations of eating beef. They have also fallen victim to targeted attacks.

Besides hate crime against Indian Muslims, there has been a marked spike in hate crimes against Christians in India recently. According to the India Hate Lab report, hate speech events targeting Christians rose from 115 in 2024 to 162 in 2025, a 41 percent increase.

Christian churches and prayer meetings have also been subjected to attacks in India.

Many observers lay the blame for this rise at the feet of the BJP and the RSS, which deny that they are responsible.

“What we’re seeing is a disturbing escalation in hate crimes, violence, bulldozer demolitions, discriminatory laws and hate speech targeting minorities along with the state using its full might, including the SIR, to systematically disenfranchise minority communities,” Raqib Hameed Naik, founder and executive director of the US think tank, the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), told Al Jazeera.

The SIR, or special intensive revision, is a revision of voter rolls that began last year. Critics of the exercise have said it has disproportionately removed Muslims and other minority communities from the rolls.

“What RSS General Secretary [Dattatreya] Hosabale has been saying, including denying any persecution of minorities, directly contradicts facts on the ground. It contradicts research and data from numerous international human rights organisations, including ours,” Naik said.

How is the RSS lobbying the West?

Hosabale said at a rare briefing with foreign media in New Delhi on Tuesday that he had been speaking to gatherings in the US, Germany and the United Kingdom to “dispel certain misgivings and misconceptions about the RSS”.

Speaking from the new 12-storey RSS office in New Delhi, Hosabale said the main allegations against the RSS were that the organisation was a “paramilitary organisation” that promotes “Hindu supremacist things” and “others have become second-class citizens”.

“The fact is entirely different,” he said.

Hosabale met with academics, policymakers and business leaders during his trips to the UK, US and Germany in April.

He spent six days in London and Rugby in central England, engaging with organisations including Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the International Centre for Sustainability in the City of London, according to the RSS website.

The website said a dinner with members of parliament was held that was attended by representatives of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

After this, he visited the US, where he engaged with the Indian American community in multiple cities over 10 days. Hosabale also conducted discussions with the Hudson Institute, a Washington, DC-based conservative think tank.

Apoorvanand told Al Jazeera that the Indian Hindu diaspora is becoming financially powerful in the US and other countries. Diaspora supporters of the RSS help fund the organisation.

“While enjoying all the rights in the country they’re in where they have citizenship, they want India as a Hindu country,” he said.

After the US trip in April, Hosabale went to Germany for two days, where he met with German policy institutions and the Indian community. These included the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, a Berlin-based foreign policy think tank advising the German government, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a political foundation linked to Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union party.

“It is a dream of the RSS to create a network of right-wing conservative organisations worldwide,” Apoorvanand said.

Hosabale said on Tuesday that RSS leaders would continue to visit Europe as well as Southeast Asia and other regions to raise awareness about the organisation.

Why is the RSS conducting this outreach?

The RSS visits followed the publication of a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in November. It said the RSS “has been involved in acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups for decades”.

“RSS’s international outreach is essentially a knee-jerk reaction to the USCIRF recommendation to impose targeted sanctions against the organisation and its leaders for their role in the systematic persecution of minorities,” Naik told Al Jazeera.

The USCIRF is a bipartisan US federal body that tracks religious freedom worldwide and advises the president, the secretary of state and Congress on related policy.

“This recommendation came from a bipartisan body. That’s what makes it such a significant blow,” said Naik, who founded HindutvaWatch.org, a real-time database tracking hate crimes and human rights abuses in India.

Apoorvanand said several organisations within the European Union and the US have been investigating the state of minority rights in India.

If recommended sanctions against the RSS and its leaders are enacted, that could spell the collapse of its network, Naik added.

“It would make the RSS a pariah, including among diasporic Indians, some of whom have played a major role in funding and sustaining the organisation, especially before Modi came to power in 2014,” he said.

The RSS has “no option but to send their leaders to the US and other countries to do damage control and to push a counternarrative against the sanctions discourse that’s been gaining ground in policy circles,” he added.

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Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, calls for “dialogue and diplomacy” in a call with his Pakistani counterpart as Tehran prepares to respond to the US 14-point proposal to end the war.

US President Donald Trump says he had “very good talks” with Iran, “it’s very possible we’ll make a deal”.

Israel bombed Beirut in the first attack on the Lebanese capital since the “ceasefire”, in name only, started on April 17.

Hamas condemns Israel’s attacks on Gaza as a continuation of Israel’s “war of extermination”.

US, Iran have a ‘mutual desperation’ to emerge as a victor in negotiations

The US and Iran both feel a “deep antagonism” towards the other and a “mutual desperation” to each come out on top in negotiations, says Samir Puri, visiting lecturer at King’s College London.

“Iran has been severely battered by several weeks of high-intensity warfare, so the choice [during diplomatic efforts] may actually come down to the following, is it better to find an off-ramp or to risk returning to full-scale hostilities?” Puri told Al Jazeera.

The best chance of finding an off-ramp is for both sides to reach an agreement regarding nuclear enrichment, said Puri.

Iran needs to be able to sign up to a deal “that it doesn’t see as much of a concession” and that the US can hail “as a great victory”, said Puri.

An arrangement regarding the Strait of Hormuz also needs to be reached, “which is probably the trickier one than enrichment at this point,” added Puri.

If a “workable deal” on these and a few more key issues can’t be reached, this “situation will just rumble on as an unresolved conflict, with every possibility of reigniting in the near future,” he added.

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L’article Analysis. Tehran calls for ‘dialogue’ as it reviews US peace proposal est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

United States President Donald Trump threatens Iranian ships, saying they will be “eliminated” if they “come anywhere close to our blockade”.

The start of the US military’s blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports has now begun, according to the deadline it set.

Iran’s armed forces say that US’s “imposition of restrictions on the movement of vessels in international waters is an illegal act and amounts to piracy“.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says talks with the US in Pakistan failed because of Washington’s “maximalism, shifting goalposts and blockade”.

Israel’s military continues to bombard south Lebanon, with the country’s health ministry saying that at least 2,089 people have been killed in attacks since March 2.

How will the US implement its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz?

We’ve spoken to Salvatore Mercogliano, maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina, about how the US could effectively implement a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Mercogliano said he expected the US Navy to turn around ships that come out of the Strait while keeping at a distance from the range of Iran’s missiles and drones.

He added that CENTCOM specified that the blockade would exclude ships that departed from non-Iranian ports, as well as humanitarian vessels.

According to Mercogliano, the US has been reinforcing its naval forces and now has enough assets in place to operate a blockade.

What may end up happening is that Iran and the US enforce “two competing blockades.” “This has the potential to freeze shipping in and out the Strait of Hormuz entirely,” he said.

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As Pakistan celebrates its success in helping negotiate a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, its leaders are preparing to host the peace talks.

A two-day holiday was declared in the country’s capital of Islamabad ahead of the talks, which are due to begin on Saturday.

Whether or not they will actually go ahead has yet to be confirmed, but the city has readied itself all the same. The streets have become quieter as about 10,000 police officers and security forces are deployed.

The stakes for the world are high – countries across the globe are keen to see an end to the fighting and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery where about 20% of the global oil supply flowed through before the war.

But they are also high for Pakistan in other ways.

The South Asian nation will face a potential « nightmare scenario » if negotiations collapse, and it gets dragged into fighting with its neighbour Iran, says Abdul Basit, a South Asia expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. This could happen as Pakistan signed a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia last year – and Islamabad has since « made it clear that it will honour its commitment given to the Saudis », says Basit.

This could result in « three borders of Pakistan [becoming] hot », Basit explains, referring to Pakistan’s existing tensions with its other neighbours Afghanistan and India. « And Pakistan is fighting two full-fledged insurgencies in two of the four provinces. Pakistan cannot afford that. »

Yet pride and excitement is taking over Pakistani social media, with different memes going viral.

« It is a victory in the sense that no other country in the world was able to broker the ceasefire and we were on the verge of a possible catastrophe. Pakistan averted that, » says Basit.

The success is very much needed for a country that has endured years of political unrest, a fragile economy on the brink of a debt default only two years ago, and intense rivalry with India.

So how did Pakistan pull off this feat?

Trump favourite

Pakistan is in a unique position as it is trusted by the US, Iran and the Gulf countries.

The reconciliation process is led by Pakistan’s military chief Asim Munir, whom US President Donald Trump calls his « favourite field marshal », according to Mushahid Hussain Syed, a senator belonging to the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League.

Munir is arguably the most powerful man in Pakistan, a country where the army has long played a predominant role in politics.

Soon after the start of Trump’s second term, Munir started building rapport with the US president and gave him « two early wins », says Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US and UN.

The field marshal, acting on CIA intelligence, handed over the alleged mastermind behind the 2021 Kabul airport bombing when Americans were evacuating from Afghanistan. The suicide attack killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US service members.

« Trump was so grateful that he mentioned this in his first address to the Congress, » Lodhi says.

The second win, Lodhi says, was « the way Pakistan conveyed to him that he had played a pivotal role in preventing a wider war with India ». Pakistan is one of the few countries that have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize – which he has long coveted.

« Remember that Trump wasn’t really getting much joy from the tariff war that he was imposing practically on every country in the world. So, he really needed what he got from Pakistan. »

Pakistan has also promised access to its critical minerals, which the US sees as a national-security interest. In September 2025, Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organisation – the country’s major miner of critical minerals, which operates under the military – signed a $500m investment deal with a US company. The ceremony took place at the Prime Minister House, with Munir in attendance.

Then, in January, Pakistan signed an agreement with an affiliate of World Liberty Financials, the cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Trump and his family, which will potentially integrate its stablecoin into the country’s digital-payment system. It has bolstered the country’s ties with Trump’s circle too.

‘Principled stance’

However, these close ties did not stop Pakistan officially condemning the first US-Israeli attacks in Iran. But when Iran bombed the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, a military ally, Pakistan also issued a strongly worded statement against Iran.

On 7 April, Pakistan abstained from a UN Security Council resolution urging states to coordinate efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Syed calls it « one-sided » as the solution does not mention that the US and Israel attacked first.

This « principled stance » and « balanced approach » has helped to enhance the trust of Iran and other Gulf countries, says Syed.

It is with these countries that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has played a crucial role in the negotiations, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Aizaz Chaudhry says.

Over the past five weeks, Sharif and his deputy, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, spoke with more than a dozen world leaders and senior officials in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, key European capitals, Turkey, Egypt and GCC states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

On the day when the ceasefire was announced, Sharif said he had a « warm and substantive conversation » with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who « reaffirmed Iran’s participation in the upcoming negotiations and expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s efforts ».

It seems Sharif has been able to leverage Pakistan’s long-standing relationship with Iran on this occasion. The two countries share a 920km border with Iran and have been cooperating for decades as a result, former Pakistan ambassador to Iran Asif Durrani says.

They also share other concerns: militants and the « unstable » Afghanistan.

« For the past five decades, we both have been facing instability in our countries in the form of refugees, » Durrani says.

Also not to be underestimated is the role religion has played in fostering trust and connection. While Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, it has one of the world’s largest Shia populations. Every year, thousands of Pakistanis travel to Iran, the biggest Shia country, on pilgrimage.

But as Saturday ticks closer, it is unclear if Pakistan’s efforts will result in the promised peace talks. The ceasefire is under growing strain, and whether the two sides will actually turn up is still in question.

« The next phase – reaching a comprehensive agreement – is difficult, and Pakistan should continue to facilitate the process, » Chaudhry says.

Israel « is already trying to undermine the ceasefire by undertaking this fierce assault on Lebanon », Lodhi says. Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed more than 300 people in Lebanon, and Israel says the Iran ceasefire does not include Lebanon.

« There is this concern in Pakistan for sure amongst officials. And on that front, the responsibility and the onus rests on Trump to restrain Israel, » she adds.

Pakistan has already « played its part » to foster peace, Durrani says. « As a broker, mediator or facilitator, your job is to take the horse to water. You can’t make it drink. It is up to the parties to make use of that opportunity which is provided by Pakistan. »

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President Donald Trump has been speaking to a number of different US media outlets after threatening Iran’s infrastructure if the country doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what we’ve heard.

He told Axios that the US is « in deep negotiations » with Iran to make a deal. He says « there is a good chance, but if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there ».

He similarly told Fox News there is a “good chance” a deal will be reached tomorrow, but he is considering “blowing everything up and taking over the oil” if a deal to end the war is not reached quickly – as we reported earlier

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that if Iran want to keep the strait closed « they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country »

As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has issued an expletive-laden threat that Iran’s infrastructure will be hit on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.

He had previously issued a deadline of 6 April for Iran to make a deal. In a new post on his Truth Social platform, Trump writes: « Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time! »

That’s 03:30 Tehran time on Wednesday (01:00 BST).

It’s not clear what Trump’s social media post is referring to. The BBC has asked the White House to clarify.

Four people have been injured in Haifa, northern Israel, after a rocket strike, the country’s emergency service Magen David Adom says.

It says this includes « an approximately 82-year-old man in serious condition who was injured by a heavy object, and 3 casualties in mild condition with shrapnel and blast injuries ».

The emergency service has shared these pictures of the scene.

Military trains ‘endlessly’ for rescue missions, former US commander says

Gen Frank McKenzie, a retired former commander of US Central Command, tells CBS Face the Nation that the rescue of the airman in Iran is something the US military trains “endlessly” for.

“Every time we send air crew over enemy territory, we have detailed elaborate plans to go get them,” he says.

McKenzie says this rescue operation left the airman in a “position where they can hide until you can get to them, all that seemed to work out very well”.

The retired general says “we did in fact lose a couple of aircraft in that mission”, but it’s a loss you take « any day » in such a situation.

He says it is a “hard lesson” for Iran that it was “not able to find the missing air crewman” before the US rescuers.

World Opinion + Agencies

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