US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Gulf tour has underscored how, while negotiating with Tehran, Washington, DC, is just as busy trying to convince Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, Kuwait and Muscat that the bargain will not be struck over Arab heads. Rubio’s message to the GCC capitals was deliberately precise: any final agreement must […]
Editorial
Venezuela’s Warning
Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast late on Wednesday, killing at least 164 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and bringing down buildings in and around Caracas, as authorities declared a state of emergency and warned that the toll could rise. By Thursday, it had. Rescue workers were still digging through collapsed homes and apartment blocks, […]
Flag Protocol
Before Pakistan and India met in the FIH Pro League, the Pakistan flag displayed during the anthem ceremony was wrong. The white stripe was missing. The match then went the way too many Pakistan hockey matches now go: India won 4-3, Pakistan fought late, and the result extended a losing streak to 13 matches and […]
War Powers
The United States Senate’s vote to restrain President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military action against Iran is unlikely, by itself, to end a war or settle a peace. That is not where its significance lies. The 50-48 vote is important because it has exposed what the White House would rather bury beneath the language […]
Children of Gaza
The latest report from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has added another uncomfortable chapter to a conflict already saturated with suffering. The commission’s investigators have concluded that Israeli authorities deliberately targeted Palestinian children and have linked that finding to their assessment of genocidal intent. Israel has rejected the […]
Beyond Mediation
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Islamabad was notable not merely because it came days after the first round of post-war US-Iran talks in Switzerland, nor because it was his first major foreign trip since the end of the Iran war. What made the visit significant was the message it carried. Standing beside Prime Minister […]
Hard Part Now
The Swiss talks between the United States and Iran have produced movement where, only days ago, all one could hear were war horns and ultimatums. The US Treasury has issued a temporary licence allowing transactions involving Iranian crude, petroleum and petrochemical products through Aug 21. Tehran says the blockade has been lifted, some frozen assets […]
Britain’s political earthquake
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation is not simply the story of a failed prime minister. Less than two years ago, he had entered Downing Street after a Labour landslide that ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Today, he leaves office not as a reckless populist, nor as an obviously incompetent administrator, but as a […]
Mango Shock
Pakistan’s mango season has opened with a reminder that even as the Middle East steps back from the edge of the cliff, economic aftershocks would be much harder to contain. Mangoes are not just another seasonal crop. They are the king of Pakistan’s fruit exports, a source of foreign exchange, a pillar of rural employment […]
A Role Well Played
Pakistan has rarely entered a major international crisis with as much composure, purpose and consequence as it has in the US-Iran endgame. At Burgenstock, Islamabad was not waiting outside the room for others to decide the region’s fate. It was in the room, alongside Qatar, turning a war that could have engulfed the Gulf into […]