Pakistan said Thursday that negotiations are underway between the United States and Iran aimed at easing tensions, even as both sides exchanged fresh military strikes and the conflict expanded to new parts of the Middle East.
Islamabad, which has sought to mediate between Washington and Tehran, said discussions were focusing in particular on the strategic Strait of Hormuz and efforts to revive the Islamabad Memorandum, signed in mid-June to pave the way for peace talks. Pakistan's foreign ministry said it was doing "everything possible" to bring all parties back to the framework of the agreement.
The announcement came hours after the United States launched a new wave of overnight strikes on targets in Iran. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had struck "dozens of targets" linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, surveillance sites, coastal defense systems, and maritime capabilities.
Washington said the attacks were carried out in response to what it described as an attempted surprise attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday involving multiple ballistic missiles targeting US forces stationed across the Middle East. According to US officials, all of the missiles were intercepted before reaching their targets.
Iran, meanwhile, reported casualties from the latest US strikes. The Revolutionary Guards said three of their members were killed in an attack in the northwestern province of Zanjan, while Iranian state media reported additional strikes in southern provinces. The Fars news agency said three members of the same family were killed when a house on Qeshm Island was hit.
The regional confrontation also widened beyond Iran. Egypt said a drone strike caused a fire aboard two gas storage vessels at the northern port of Damietta on Wednesday, marking the first attack on Egyptian territory since the conflict began. British maritime security firm Ambrey identified one of the vessels as a US floating storage and regasification unit.
Jordan said it intercepted five missiles fired from Iran on Thursday morning, preventing casualties. The Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility, saying they had targeted the Al-Azraq Air Base, where US aircraft are stationed, in retaliation for the strike on Qeshm Island. Earlier this week, the United States and Saudi Arabia also carried out joint strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq, accusing them of attacking Saudi oil facilities, an allegation the groups denied.
The latest escalation follows weeks of intensifying hostilities that have unraveled diplomatic efforts launched in June. The conflict, which began after US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has increasingly drawn in regional actors, while the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the war, remains one of the central points of tension. Analysts warn that the growing involvement of multiple countries risks transforming the confrontation into a broader regional proxy war.
