Pakistan is “the only mediator in this negotiation. While there have been many countries around the world that want to offer their help, the President feels it’s important to streamline this communication through the Pakistanis.”
-White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
Pakistan’s role has shifted from facilitator and go-between to direct mediator and peace negotiator (amid reports of 3-way talks taking place in Islamabad). For now at least, Pakistan’s in the driver’s seat in the difficult & delicate effort to guide the US & Iran to an off ramp.
US Vice President JD Vance, along with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has met Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad ahead of possible direct talks with Iran. If confirmed, it would mark the highest-level in-person talks between the two since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Proud that in a world that is increasingly relying on fantastic military solutions to all issues, Pakistan’s consistent diplomatic posturing over many decades has borne fruit. All conflicts end on the diplomatic table &require empathy&intent to resolve. All eyes on Islamabad.
How Pakistan is maintaining its role as a diplomatic mediator and helping ease current regional tensions amid the US-Iran ceasefire.
Al Jazeera’s @OsamaBinJavaid reports from Islamabad.
Tonight, Pakistan achieved one of its biggest diplomatic wins in years. It also defied many skeptics and naysayers that didn’t think it had the capacity to pull off such a complex, high stakes feat.
But what matters the most is it helped avert a potential catastrophe in Iran.
WAR AS A BUSINESS: WHO IS ROBBING PAKISTAN?
While the world watches missiles and geopolitics, something far more disturbing is happening inside Pakistan.
A quiet economic raid.
The math is brutally simple.
1️⃣ Oil was purchased roughly 45 days ago at about $60 per barrel.
2️⃣ That same oil is now being sold to Pakistanis at nearly Rs327 per litre.
3️⃣ The result: an estimated Rs113 billion inventory windfall.
4️⃣ Oil already paid for — yet priced today like it was bought during the crisis.
So the obvious question is unavoidable:
Who pockets the Rs113 billion?
Yes, global markets reacted to war.
Brent crude jumped more than 9% on Friday, crossing $93 per barrel — the highest level since autumn 2023.
But that spike happened now.
The oil currently being sold was bought weeks earlier at far lower prices.
This is not economics.
This is profiteering in the disguise of war.
Every time a global crisis begins, the same script unfolds in Pakistan:
• Prices jump immediately.
• Relief never arrives with the same speed.
• And somewhere in the system, billions quietly change hands.
Across the world, governments try to protect their citizens from volatility.
In Pakistan, crises too often become profit opportunities for powerful economic actors.
Transport costs explode.
Food prices surge.
Electricity becomes unaffordable.
And ordinary Pakistanis are told “global markets forced it.”
But the numbers expose a darker truth.
This looks less like market adjustment — and more like organized economic exploitation.
Many citizens are now calling it what it feels like:
Economic terrorism carried out in the shadow of war.
Because one question refuses to disappear:
Why does this pattern happen again and again only in Pakistan?
Until there is transparency, accountability, and courage to confront those benefiting from this system, the suspicion will remain.
Pakistan is not just facing inflation.
It is facing economic predators hiding behind global crises.
“This is an unnecessary war,” says former MI6 chief John Sawers. “It was not required, because it was not as if it was to pre-empt an imminent threat,” he tells me. “The very best you can expect is a sort of Venezuela-type outcome. But there are plenty of other, more dangerous outcomes coming from this.”
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson says
"Khamenei was the one guy in Iran that blocked for 36 years Iran's ability to develop a Nuclear Weapon,the one man who stood in the way & said,we will not build a nuclear weapon.
That's the guy the United States killed..What the hell man
This is the most insane and absurd definition of an ‘imminent threat’ I have ever heard in my life. Our ally and proxy, Israel, that we arm and fund, was about to illegally attack Iran so we joined in the attack because that illegal attack would have led to an attack on us
The tragic death of PSP officer Adeel Akbar has shaken the conscience of all who believe in justice and integrity. Despite being fully exonerated by the Establishment Division, he was subjected to relentless pressure and unlawful demands from certain seniors. The pain and humiliation he endured — culminating in a distressing call before he took his life — must be investigated transparently and impartially.
I demand a fair inquiry, free from departmental influence, conducted by individuals of impeccable reputation, including psychiatrists and civil society members, to uncover the truth and hold all responsible to account under the law.
This tragedy also highlights the urgent need to prioritize mental health support within our institutions. Justice for Adeel must lead to reform — so no honest officer ever suffers the same fate again.
#JusticeForAdeel #Accountability #PoliceReform #MentalHealthMatters
Senior journalist #ArshadSharif martyred in Kenya gun attack. Police in Kenya have confirmed his death and have opened an investigation into the accident which likely involved a gun attack.
More details: https://t.co/VAfpCKUQXD
#ARYNews