Ammon News - Mediator Pakistan confirmed that negotiations between the United States and Iran were "ongoing" despite the renewed fighting across the Middle East.

"Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on (the) Strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad.

Mediator Pakistan said it was doing its "utmost" to bring Iran and the United States back to talks under a memorandum of understanding aimed at halting their war, to which Islamabad is a signatory.

"We are doing our utmost to bring all parties back to the Islamabad MoU," Andrabi told reporters. He added that Pakistan was encouraging the countries to "fully adhere to their commitments to hold technical talks" under the agreement.

The US military said it struck dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, in a two-hour operation launched after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East.

The operation began at 0000 GMT and ended at 02:00 GMT on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its ​proxies to American forces, commercial ‌shipping and neighbouring Gulf countries," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Iran's state media reported that three people were killed in US strikes on Qeshm island, including a two-year-old child.


AFP