ISLAMABAD – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar received a call from Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi.
They reviewed the evolving situation in Iran and the wider region.
Dar strongly condemned the unwarranted attacks against Iran and called for an immediate halt to escalation through urgent resumption of diplomacy to achieve a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the crisis, the foreign office said in a statement on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in response to a “major combat operation” launched by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday, Iran has initiated a missile attack on Israel, escalating tensions in the Middle East and diminishing the prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing nuclear standoff between Tehran and the West.
Reports indicate that Iran fired a series of ballistic missiles and drones in an operation called “Fateh Khyber,” triggering air raid sirens across Israel. The strikes primarily targeted northern Israel, including the region of Hafizah, where explosions were heard. The Israeli capital, Tel Aviv, also experienced blasts, suggesting the significant scale of Iran’s retaliatory assault. Iranian military officials confirmed that multiple missiles and drones had successfully hit key Israeli locations.
In addition to Israel, Iranian missiles reportedly targeted several U.S. military installations in the Gulf, including those in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain. Explosions were reported in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet operations center was reportedly struck. The missile attacks in Bahrain led to the relocation of U.S. diplomatic personnel to safe shelters. In Qatar, some Iranian missiles were reportedly intercepted mid-flight, while Kuwait also reported hearing explosions.
US President Donald Trump declared that “major combat operations” had been initiated against Iran, emphasizing that the goal was to protect American citizens by eliminating “imminent threats” posed by the Iranian regime, which he described as a “vicious group of very hard, terrible people.” Trump’s statement was shared via a video on his Truth Social account.
