Pakistan Says It Remains Engaged with US, Iran on Talks to End Conflict

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
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Pakistan Says It Remains Engaged with US, Iran on Talks to End Conflict

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. (Reuters)

Pakistan is engaged with the US and Iran on talks to end their conflict ‌and ‌is positive that ‌the ⁠countries "will return to ⁠the table for dialogue", Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir ⁠Andrabi said at ‌a ‌regular media briefing ‌on Wednesday.

Pakistan's ‌Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir's ‌visit to Tehran last month created "considerable ⁠momentum" ⁠on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

Iran struck US interests around the Middle East on Wednesday, vowing "severe" consequences for renewed American attacks on the country.

The latest fighting over the Strait of Hormuz once again expanded to US military bases in the region and drew Gulf countries deeper into the six-month conflict.

US President Donald Trump had warned earlier of "much harder and higher" attacks if Iran retaliated to the US strikes which Iranian state media said had killed 11 people in the country's south and southwest.

The latest round of conflict began when Washington hit Iranian targets on Sunday, the first known strikes in several weeks, after which Tehran's forces targeted US troops in Jordan, and projectiles struck two oil tankers in unclaimed attacks.

More US strikes came on Tuesday, with Iranian state television reporting explosions in the country's south along the Hormuz strait and on an island in the Gulf, and that US forces hit an airport in the southern province of Kerman.

After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and the United States persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

The Middle East war began in late February with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

A fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed after attacks on commercial ships in the Hormuz strait, through which one-fifth of world oil supplies flowed before the war.



Iran Guards Say Attacked US Naval Drone

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Guards Say Attacked US Naval Drone

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that they had attacked a US naval drone that was trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, hours after Tehran and Washington traded strikes.
"The heroic Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked an American military unmanned surface vessel (remotely operated vessel) that was attempting to enter the protected area of the Strait of Hormuz," the Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian state television IRIB.


NATO Will Not Tolerate Hybrid Actions Against Members, US Envoy Says

The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)
The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)
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NATO Will Not Tolerate Hybrid Actions Against Members, US Envoy Says

The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)
The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)

NATO members should not tolerate deliberate actions of hybrid war, and the United States will stand by countries as they deal with these incidents, Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said on Saturday.

Whitaker said last month's attempted drone attack at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport, which Berlin ‌has blamed ‌on Russia, was more worrying ‌than ⁠other recent incidents ⁠NATO members have faced due to Russian drones targeting Ukraine that strayed off course.

"Then you have what I would call the more concerning hybrid actions like we saw ⁠in Leipzig, like we ‌have seen ‌in Poland," Whitaker said speaking on the sidelines ‌of a business conference in Italy.

NATO ‌members must be prepared, vigilant and also deliver a strong message when they are challenged by these events, ‌he said.

"If we can identify who's doing it — which Germany ⁠did — ⁠we make sure we express strongly that is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," Whitaker said.

Critical infrastructure, including energy assets, could be targeted and should be monitored by national authorities, he added.

The response to these challenges is primarily national, but the United States supports countries when they are dealing with these acts, he said.


Thousands March for Democracy Ahead of Eastern German Vote

People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)
People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)
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Thousands March for Democracy Ahead of Eastern German Vote

People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)
People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)

Thousands of people joined a march for "democracy" in eastern Germany on Saturday, a day ahead of a regional election expected to result in a historic win for the far right.

The march in Magdeburg, capital of the Saxony-Anhalt region, drew demonstrators holding up placards proclaiming "more love, less hate", "a better life without Nazis", and "the potato is also of foreign origin".

The march was organized by a coalition of groups dubbed "Saxony-Anhalt: Open to the World".

The far right, anti-migrant, pro-Russian and pro-Donald Trump Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is leading in the polls for the Saxony-Anhalt election, and is expected to top the vote in the small state of 2.1 million inhabitants.

It would be the first regional election win for the AfD, marking an unprecedented breakthrough for the far right in Germany in the postwar era.

However, the party is not assured of managing an absolute majority that would allow it to govern alone.

So far, all other parties have ruled out governing with the AfD, with the exception of the pro-Russian left-wing party BSW, whose members are divided on the issue.