Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
Pakistan has offered to host peace talks between the US and Iran, after President Donald Trump raised hopes of ending the war.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan "stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement".
Despite urgent diplomatic efforts, Iran and Israel exchanged strikes on Tuesday in some of the most intense fighting since the war began. Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv and areas surrounding the city, injuring at least six people and causing significant damage to buildings. Missile attacks were also reported in Haifa, as well as northern and southern settlements and cities.
Israel, meanwhile, said dozens of fighter jets carried out strikes deep inside Iran, hitting IRGC command centres and Intelligence Ministry sites. More than 3,000 Iranian targets have been struck since the conflict began, the military added.
Mr Trump has offered a five-day window for talks before potential strikes on Iran's power plants. Reports say the US is also sending marines to the Middle East, who could arrive within that time. Iran has denied that direct peace talks have taken place. On Tuesday, Iran appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as its new security chief to replace the assassinated Ali Larijani.
Mr Zolghadr is a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer who has held a range of jobs in Iran's government and military. The IRGC has been leading attacks on Israel and the Gulf states since the war began, sidelining the President, Masoud Pezeshkian. The new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is seen as close to the IRGC.
With the IRGC consolidating power and no sign of the regime change sought by the US and Israel, concern over a prolonged war is growing. The war's economic fallout widened on Tuesday as the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a state of national energy emergency in response to the Middle East conflict.
As Gulf states face Iran's drone and missile strikes, Qatar said it was time for them to reassess their regional security systems. "We need a unified stance in the Gulf," Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said.
He said there was no direct Qatari effort to mediate between the US and Iran to end the war. Qatar's stance is that "we must end this war through diplomatic means, and we support all informal and formal diplomatic channels", Mr Al Ansari said.
Pakistan's bid to mediate talks came a day after Mr Shehbaz spoke to Mr Pezeshkian to call for dialogue. "Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the war in the Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in the region and beyond," Mr Shehbaz said.
Mr Trump appeared to acknowledge Pakistan's offer by reposting it on Truth Social. Oman's Sultan Haitham, meanwhile, spoke to the French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed "international efforts being made to achieve calm and end the conflict". Oman mediated in three rounds of talks in February that failed to avert the war.
Two traditional US allies expressed grave concern over the war. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued a rare rebuke of the US and Israel by saying there was "little doubt" their war on Iran was a breach of international law.
"This war is also a fateful political mistake, and, what frustrates me the most, an avoidable, unnecessary war if the aim was to block Iran's path to an atomic bomb," Mr Steinmeier said.
France's army chief said the US had become an unpredictable ally. Fabien Mandon said Washington did "not even bother to inform us when they decide to launch military operations".
"It has an impact on our security and it has an impact on our interests," he told a security and defence forum in Paris.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he held “productive conversations” with Iran and had postponed a plan for military strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days. He claimed that 15 points of agreement had been reached. Iran played down the announcement, but confirmed it had responded to messages received through mediators.
Israel's Health Ministry said 4,829 people have been treated in hospital since the war began on February 28, with 12 in serious condition.
The IRGC warned it would launch "heavy missile and drone attacks" against Israeli military positions without hesitation if strikes on civilians in Lebanon and Palestine continued.
Lebanon, meanwhile, has withdrawn its approval of Iran’s ambassador-designate to Beirut and declared him “persona non grata”.
