ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday visited the Iranian embassy in Islamabad and assured Tehran of Islamabad’s continued support, following last month’s Israeli attacks on Iran.
The 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which began on June 13 Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and military leadership, raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.
Pakistan remained engaged in talks with regional partners like Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Qatar to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after Iran conducted retaliatory strikes on Israel and a US base in Qatar, raising fears the conflict could draw in other regional states.
During his visit to the Iranian embassy, Sharif signed a condolence book opened by the Iranian mission to honor the Iranians who were killed and injured during the Israeli attacks against Iran, according to the Pakistan PM’s office.
“He expressed his deepest condolences to the people and Government of Iran, while reaffirming Pakistan’s sympathy and solidarity with Iran during this difficult time,” Sharif’s office said.
“While assuring the Iranian side of Pakistan’s consistent and continued support, the Prime Minister also conveyed his good wishes and respects for Iranian Supreme Leader His Eminence Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, as well as for President Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian.”
On Monday, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir offered a sharply increased, government-issued death toll from the war, saying that the Israeli attacks killed 935 “Iranian citizens,” including 38 children and 102 women.
The Israeli strikes came at a time when Iranian officials were engaged in nuclear negotiations with the US and the conflict worsened after the US struck three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22. President Donald Trump claimed the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by years.
Iran is assessing the damage and lashing out over the American and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear sites, though Tehran kept open the possibility Tuesday of resuming talks with Washington over its atomic program, AP news agency reported.
The comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh MoHajjerani also included another acknowledgment that Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, key sites within Iran’s nuclear program, had been “seriously damaged” by the American strikes.
“No date (for US talks) is announced, and it’s not probably very soon, but a decision hasn’t been made in this field,” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted MoHajjerani as saying at a briefing for journalists.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also kept open the possibility of talks with the US.