Deputy PM says Iranian foreign minister made it clear after first attack that the \u201cact will be responded to\u201d
\nISLAMABAD
\nAs the conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv enters its fourth day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday that Iran was willing to return to the negotiation table if Israel refrains from further strikes, citing direct communication with his Iranian counterpart after the initial exchange of hostilities.
\n\u201cIran\u2019s Foreign Minister [Abbas Araghchi] told me that if Israel does not carry out another attack, they are prepared to return to the negotiating table,\u201d Dar said while speaking on the Senate floor.
\n\u201cWe conveyed this message to other countries [\u2026] there is still time to stop Israel and bring Iran back to talks,\u201d he added.
\nSince Friday, Israel has launched large-scale strikes on Iran, targeting military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across the country. The attacks have killed at least 224 people in the Islamic Republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
\nIran has retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister\u2019s office.
\nIran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities, as well as assassinating its scientists.
\nSpeaking on the floor of the upper house, Dar said that Pakistan has played a constructive role in supporting diplomatic channels, adding: \u201cOur intention was always to see successful negotiations between the United States and Iran.\u201d
\nHe noted that the foreign ministers of both Oman and Iran had been in regular contact with him throughout the crisis. \u201cI spoke to Iran\u2019s foreign minister both before and after the Israeli attack,\u201d he noted.
\nDar added that the Iranian foreign minister made it clear after the first attack that \u201cthis act will be responded to.\u201d
\nThe deputy prime minister also warned against the dangers of misinformation and propaganda, calling the current situation extremely delicate. \u201cThis is not child\u2019s play \u2014 a serious conflict is underway,\u201d he stressed. \u201cEveryone must act responsibly in such times. We cannot afford to be reckless.\u201d
\nDar strongly condemned the spread of fake news since June 13, including doctored video clips involving US President Donald Trump and outdated interviews being shared as current developments.
\n\u201cMisinformation is being widely circulated \u2014 we must exercise caution,\u201d he urged, referencing a clip of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s 2011 interview being wrongly portrayed as recent.
\nHe also refuted claims circulating on social media suggesting that Pakistan would launch a nuclear strike if Israel did so first.
\nCalling the viral statement \u201chighly irresponsible and entirely false,\u201d Dar said: \u201cThis is completely baseless. We declared in 1998 that our nuclear weapons are solely for our own defence and protection.\u201d
\nHe noted that Pakistan\u2019s nuclear doctrine was solely for its own protection, aimed at maintaining peace in the region. \u201cOur nuclear capability is essential for regional stability,\u201d he said.
\nDar also reminded that Pakistan never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), reiterating the country\u2019s independent nuclear posture. He further said that any attack on nuclear installations is a \u201cserious crime under international law.\u201d
\nSpeaking about the repatriation of Pakistani nationals from Iran, he said that the Foreign Office had activated a crisis unit and was closely monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deputy PM says Iranian foreign minister made it clear after first attack that the \u201cact will be responded to\u201d ISLAMABAD As the conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv enters its fourth day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday that Iran was willing to return to the negotiation table if Israel …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":75849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82520,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82500\/revisions\/82520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}