Pakistan offered to host talks between Iran and the U.S. to bring about an end to the Middle East conflict on Tuesday (24 March), as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated that Washington was speaking to Tehran, despite the White House downplaying earlier comments by Trump saying the same thing.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran and the U.S. had discussed an end to hostilities in a post on Truth Social on Monday (23 March), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the statement at a media briefing.
"This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House,” she said.
Later on Tuesday, Trump again said that talks were taking place between Iran and the U.S., telling reporters that Washington was speaking to "the right people" in Tehran.
Iran also denied any negotiations were taking place and Qatar confirmed it wasn’t acting as a mediator in any talks.
Meanwhile, Pakistan emerged as a potential mediating force if any future talks happen. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country was “ready” to host or facilitate negotiations to bring about the end of the conflict.
Lebanon expels Iranian Ambassador
Beirut’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had ordered the Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani to leave the country by Sunday (29 March), after declaring him persona non grata.
It accused Sheibani of interfering in internal affairs by criticising decisions made by the Lebanese government and holding meetings with “unofficial Lebanese parties.” It didn’t say who those parties were.
The Ministry said that Sheibani had violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations through his actions.
The development came as Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah vowed to fight any attempt by Israel to occupy the south of the country, calling it an "existential threat” to Lebanon as a state.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed that a Moroccan civilian contractor had died in an Iranian attack in Bahrain. Another five UAE military personnel were also injured in the attack, as well as a number of troops from Bahrain, according to the UAE’s Foreign Ministry.
Elsewhere, the President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region said six people were killed in an Iranian rocket attack on a military base north of the city of Erbil. Nechirvan Barzani said 30 others were wounded in the attack early on Tuesday.
The President of the Philippines declared a national emergency as a result of what he called an “imminent danger” to the country’s energy supply from the Middle East conflict. Ferdinand Marcos Jr said an emergency committee had been formed to ensure the supply and distribution of fuel, food, medicines, agricultural products and other essential goods.
Meanwhile, beer brewers in India warned of price rises, due to a shortage of gas. As the world's fourth-largest importer of natural gas, India is especially vulnerable to fuel availability and relies heavily on the Middle East for shipments, sourcing about 40% of its supply from Qatar.
In Kenya, the head of an association representing independent retailers, said hundreds of outlets were running out of fuel due to the Iran conflict.
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Democrats' sweeping victory in the U.S. midterm elections has sent technology stocks plunging, as investors fear tougher AI regulations could slow infrastructure development and threaten the boom that has driven market gains this year.
Romanian authorities said late on Thursday that two additional planes had received bomb threats including a KLM flight to Tel Aviv that had a layover in Bucharest.
U.S. President Donald Trump has predicted a breakthrough in efforts to end the war in Ukraine after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, ahead of U.S.-mediated peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi on 10-11 November.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to fight attempts to impeach him, dismissing the growing campaign against him as politically motivated amid mounting criticism of his handling of the war in Iran.
Two people, including a child, were killed and 16 others injured when an intercity bus crashed in eastern France on Friday morning, authorities confirmed.
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said he hopes the country will have visa-free travel with the European Union (EU) by 2029, the country’s state news agency Armenpress has reported.
Azerbaijan, the United States and Armenia have launched trilateral technical planning groups to advance the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), marking another step towards implementing the regional connectivity project agreed at the Washington peace summit in August 2025.
Syria is aiding Riyadh with military advice and training as Saudi Arabia comes under attack by Yemen's Houthis, and has sent a limited number of military personnel to the kingdom, two Syrian military sources and a senior U.S. official said.
India's delivery of guided Pinaka rockets to Armenia is drawing renewed attention as analysts assess the military and strategic significance of one of New Delhi's most prominent defence export deals.
Türkiye’s parliament has ratified a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, strengthening military cooperation between the three countries amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
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