Pakistan is continuing to play a behind-the-scenes diplomatic role between the United States and Iran as tensions remain high over the ongoing conflict and negotiations.

Iran has put forward a fresh 14-point proposal to the United States, calling for a resolution of tensions within 30 days and a complete end to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, according to state-linked media reports.

US President Donald Trump has told Congress that he does not need authorisation for military action against Iran, arguing that hostilities have effectively ended.

The Pentagon has estimated that the ongoing Iran war has cost the United States $25 billion and claimed 14 American lives, as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth faced a tense Capitol Hill hearing.

Bitcoin has already endured five consecutive months of declines since reaching an all-time high of $126,500 in October 2025. February marked the fifth straight negative month, reflecting sustained selling pressure and deteriorating sentiment across the sector, writes Simon Peters, Crypto Analyst at eToro.

The asymmetry at the heart of this war’s economic geography is stark. The US imports relatively little oil through Hormuz. More than 80% of oil and LNG shipped through the strait in 2024 went to Asian markets, with China, India, Japan and South Korea the primary destinations, he adds.

UNCTAD data shows Brent crude oil prices rose above $90 per barrel, while natural gas prices also increased sharply after the disruption. Between Feb 27 and Mar 9, oil prices rose 27% to $91.8 per barrel, while gas prices climbed 74 percent.

The Bahrain Defence Force General Command (BDF) announced that its air defence systems have continued to successfully intercept successive waves of the Iranian aggression.

The dollar still functions as the world’s primary safe haven, and in moments of acute geopolitical uncertainty, capital flows toward US assets, particularly when positioning had been stretched against it.

Reports suggest some of Trump’s advisers would prefer Israel to initiate any strike, calculating that American public opinion would be more supportive if Washington were seen as backing an ally rather than acting unilaterally.

Indirect talks in Geneva have yielded what officials call “guiding principles” for a possible agreement, but the framework remains skeletal and major gaps still separate US demands from Iran’s red lines.

Iran and the US resumed indirect nuclear talks on Monday in Muscat under Omani mediation, marking the first round of diplomacy in nearly eight months.

Friday's visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi comes after US President Donald Trump threatened a military strike on Iran over its deadly protest crackdown this month and the lack of a nuclear agreement.

A top Hamas leader told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze", but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza.

Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner huddled into the early hours with Putin in the Kremlin but reached no breakthrough on halting Europe's worst conflict since World War II.

Nuseirat, Palestinian Territories - With a pot of glue, a blade and a keen eye, Manal al-Saadani repairs tattered banknotes -- a necessity in the Gaza Strip, where the cash in circulation is wearing out. For every revived note she gives back to a customer, they give her a few...

An initial US plan which was heavily weighted in Russia's favor has been replaced by one taking in more of Ukraine's interests, and an official familiar with the new version told AFP it was "significantly better."

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel said the remains it received on Sunday from Hamas were those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an Israeli officer killed more than a decade ago in the 2014 Gaza war. Goldin was the 24th deceased hostage whose remains have been returned by Hamas since the start of...

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan said Wednesday that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had "failed to bring about a workable solution", warning it would take steps to protect its people. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbours' deadliest...

Israeli lawmakers voted Wednesday to advance two bills on annexing the occupied West Bank, barely a week after President Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that was retaliation for a Hamas attack.

Trump, however, insisted that American forces would not be involved in confronting against Hamas, saying dozens of countries that have agreed to join an international stabilization forces for Gaza would "love to go in."

Trump said as recently as last month that he believed Ukraine could take back all its territory -- but a day after agreeing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a new summit, the American president had changed his tune

Donald Trump held a crucial phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Thursday, a day before Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky meets the US president to push for Tomahawk missiles.

The statement from Defence Minister Israel Katz's office came after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages, and said it would be unable to retrieve any more bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialised equipment.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he may warn Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Ukraine could get Tomahawk cruise missiles if Moscow does not end its invasion

Beijing, China -- China accused the United States of "double standards" on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on the world's second-largest economy. Trump reignited his trade war with China on Friday, accusing Beijing of imposing "extraordinarily aggressive" new export curbs relating to rare earths....

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised a "significant" response to "Europe's militarisation", as he addressed a foreign policy forum in southern Russia.

After nearly two years of war, Israeli military operations have killed at least 65,419 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, figures the UN considers reliable.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had created the possibility for peace with neighbouring Lebanon and Syria.

The United Kingdom has historically been a staunch supporter of Israel but has shifted position as Israel has intensified the Gaza offensive triggered by Hamas's unprecedented 2023 attack.

Israel has said it intends to capture the territory's largest urban centre, which it describes as one of the last strongholds of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Tehran, Iran - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that enriched nuclear material remained "under the rubble" of facilities damaged during the recent war with Israel. "All of our material is... under the rubble of the bombed facilities," said Araghchi in a televised interview, adding that Iran's Atomic Energy...

The UN Security Council announced it would hold an emergency meeting Friday to discuss discuss violations of Poland's airspace, a day after Warsaw accused Moscow of carrying out a drone raid on its territory.

The intrusion of Russian drones into Poland -- whether deliberate, as Ukraine's European allies contend, or accidental -- is a test of NATO's readiness and resolve, experts say.

Kyiv, Ukraine -- Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early Sunday, killing four people and setting government offices in Kyiv ablaze, an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war. Flames could be seen rising from the roof of the sprawling government complex that houses Ukraine's cabinet...

In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that "we hold 40 percent of the territory of Gaza City", adding that the offensive "will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days".

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin flanked Xi Jinping at a massive parade of military might in Beijing on Wednesday, capping a week of diplomatic grandstanding by the Chinese president and his allies against the West.

Al Mukalla, Yemen -- In a dimly lit, suffocatingly hot gym in Yemen, bodybuilder Saleh Hussein al-Raidi wraps his hands around rusty barbells, training with steely-eyed resolve for his dream of entering major competitions abroad. But the 24-year-old, who works two jobs to support his family, lacks the means to...

The Red Cross warned on Saturday that any Israeli efforts to evacuate Gaza City would put residents at risk, as Israel's military tightened its siege on the area ahead of a major planned offensive.

The Israeli military, however, is gearing up to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City, with its Arabic-language spokesman saying: "We are not waiting.

"The movement has submitted its response, agreeing to the mediators' new proposal. We pray to God to extinguish the fire of this war on our people," senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said.

Tehran, Iran - The streets of Tehran have become a confusing maze for driver Farshad Fooladi amid widespread GPS disruption, still ongoing nearly two months after the end of Iran and Israel's unprecedented 12-day war. "For weeks I have been unable to work," said Fooladi, who uses Iran's homegrown ride-hailing...

A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called Hostage Square -- which has been a focal point for protests throughout the war. Demonstrators also blocked roads, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where they set tires on fire

Anchorage, United States - Stepping foot on Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin basked in choreographed pageantry courtesy of Donald Trump -- but was also confronted by signs of US power. In made-for-television images, Putin and Trump each flew in their...

In a draft peace plan published in June, Russia called on Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions that Moscow claimed to annex in 2022.

The approval for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel's security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

Hostage families and peace activists want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a ceasefire with Hamas and free the remaining captives abducted during the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

His statement came after hundreds of retired Israeli security chiefs wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge him to convince Netanyahu to end the war.

The new body - which will be chaired by the president and include top military commanders among other senior officials and ministers - will be tasked with "reviewing defence strategies" and "enhancing the capabilities of Iran's armed forces", it added.

One of the largest marches took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority located just north of Jerusalem, with hundreds gathering at the main square, waving Palestinian flags.