June 20, 2025 12:21 PM

Pakistan fears militants will thrive on restive border if Iran destabilised

Separatist and jihadist militants on the Pakistan-Iran border could take advantage of any collapse of authority in Iran, fears that Pakistan’s army chief pressed in a meeting this week with the U.S. President Donald Trump. Anti-Iranian and anti-Pakistan outfits operate on both sides of the 560-mile (900km) long border. As Israel bombs Iran's nuclear program, its officials have repeatedly indicated that they are seeking to destabilize the Iranian government or see it toppled. As well as worry...

June 20, 2025 12:15 PM

Europeans try to coax Iran back to diplomacy, as Trump considers strikes

European foreign ministers are set to meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its contested nuclear programme despite the U.S. considering joining Israeli strikes against Iran. Ministers from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief spoke to Abbas Araqchi earlier this week and have been coordinating with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a rare call, they pressed upon Araqchi the ...

June 20, 2025 12:00 PM

Russia says any use of tactical nuclear weapons by US in Iran would be catastrophic, TASS reports

Potential use of tactical nuclear weapons by the United States in Iran would be a catastrophic development, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday. Peskov was commenting on what he called speculative media reports about that possibility. His comments, as reported by TASS, did not mention any media by name. The Guardian newspaper reported that U.S. defence officials were briefed that using conventional bombs against Iran's underground uranium e...