Pakistani prime minister to visit China May 23-26, says Beijing
“The leaders of China and Pakistan will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press conference on Thursday, adding that “China supports Pakistan in playing a fair and balanced mediating role in promoting peace and ending the war.”
The two countries have both sought to mediate in the Middle East conflict, which was sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes.
One of Pakistan’s top mediators in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, Army Chief Asim Munir, is due to arrive in Tehran Thursday in an effort to broker a peace deal, according to Iranian news outlets.
UAE official slams Iran’s Hormuz control plan as “pipe dream”
“The regime is trying to establish a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or infringe on the UAE’s maritime sovereignty are nothing but pipe dreams,” said the United Arab Emirates’ presidential advisor Anwar Gargash in a post on X.
Israel begins deporting hundreds of flotilla activists
The Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said Thursday that most of the international activists were in transit to a civilian airport near the southern Israeli city of Eilat for deportation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’s national security minister for a provocative video showing the minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.
Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”
Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the approximately 430 detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, departed for Gaza last week from Turkey, near Cyprus. Organizers said they want to draw renewed attention to the living conditions of the nearly 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Iran looking over latest U.S. peace proposals, state media say
“We have received the views of the American side and are currently reviewing them,” Nour News, which is close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei as saying Thursday.
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Baqaei added that the current Pakistan-mediated exchanges between the U.S. and Iran were based on Iran’s initial 14-point framework proposal, which called for “a definitive end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon,” the release of frozen Iranian financial assets and an end to what he described as “piracy” against Iranian commercial vessels.
Iranian lawmaker Fada Hossein Maleki said in remarks aired on state TV that the Pakistani Army chief would arrive in Tehran carrying a new message from the U.S.
Pakistan army chief heading to Tehran to continue mediation efforts, Iranian state media say
“The visit comes amid continued regional diplomatic activity aimed at easing tensions and advancing negotiations,” ISNA said.
Pakistan has been the leading mediator between the U.S. and Iran, conveying messages as the sides continue their indirect talks.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Senator Syed Mohsin Reza Naqvi, arrived in Tehran Wednesday for meetings with senior Iranian officials, but Islamabad has not confirmed a new pending visit by Munir, who has been among the key figures brokering talks between Washington and the Iranian regime.
Trump says he’s willing to wait for Iran to respond to latest offer, but not for long
“If I can save war by waiting a couple of days, if I can save people being killed by waiting a couple of days, I think it’s a great thing to do,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday afternoon.
On Monday, Mr. Trump called off what he said was a scheduled attack on the country that was supposed to happen Tuesday.
“If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly,” the president said Wednesday. “We’re all ready to go. We have to get the right answers. It would have to be a complete 100% good answers, and if we do, we save a lot of time, energy and lives, most importantly.”
Mr. Trump said U.S. officials were impressed by the Iranians who were negotiating with his administration.
“We’re dealing with people that are, I think, far more reasonable than the people that are really no longer with us,” the president said. “We’re dealing with some people with talent, with good brain power, and we’re pretty impressed by it, so hopefully those people will make a deal that’s going to be great for everybody.”
Trump: “We’re in final stages of Iran”
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “We’ll either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won’t happen.”
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