Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia to jointly urge Iran, Gulf states to resolve dispute through diplomacy FI Home PM Shehbaz holds telephonic conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim Pakistan agreed separately with Indonesia and Malaysia on Thursday about jointly urging "maximum restraint" to all parties and stakeholders currently involved in the raging crisis in the Middle East. Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply after US and Israeli air strikes last week assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials, triggering a wave of retaliation from Tehran and widening the conflict across the region. In response to the strikes, Iran launched retaliatory attacks on US military bases in several Gulf countries, significantly expanding the scope of the confrontation. Iran’s strikes across the Gulf caused the most widespread disruption to business activity in the region since the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the closure of airports, halting operations at key ports and sending shockwaves through regional financial markets. The attacks landed across major Gulf states — a region that has spent decades cultivating its reputation as one of the world’s most stable and reliable global business hubs. The escalation marked an unprecedented development for cities such as Dubai, whose modern economic model has been built around maintaining stability and remaining largely insulated from conflicts in the wider…
Published: March 5, 2026 3:23 pm
Source: The Express Tribune — Read original