Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were in Islamabad on Sunday for talks with Pakistani officials aimed at seeking de-escalation of the regional conflict.
The talks, led by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, are set to last for two days. Mr Dar met Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday morning before the four-way discussions.
They discussed efforts by their countries along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to “de-escalate tension and encourage a negotiating process between Iran and the United States to spare the region comprehensive chaos”, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
Mr Dar also separately met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and stressed “dialogue, de-escalation, diplomacy & co-ordination for peace and stability”, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he held a phone call with Mr Dar to discuss regional developments on Sunday.
The war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, has rattled the global economy. Energy prices have soared as shipments from Gulf producers are cut off by an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The entry of Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia into the war with missile attacks on Israel on Saturday raised the prospect of a further disruption to global shipping.
If the Houthis expand their new front in the conflict, one target could be the Bab El Mandeb strait off the coast of Yemen, a choke point for sea traffic towards the Suez Canal.
Washington has dispatched thousands of Marines to the Middle East in the month-old war. The first of two contingents arrived on Friday on an amphibious assault ship, the US military said on Saturday.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the US was publicly calling for negotiations while secretly planning a ground attack against the Islamic Republic, but Iranian forces were prepared for such a scenario.
“The United States openly sends a message of negotiation while secretly planning a ground attack,” Mr Ghalibaf said in a message addressed to the Iranian people.
“They are oblivious to the fact that our men await the arrival of American troops on the ground to unleash fire upon them and punish their regional allies forever,” he said.
He added that Iran was facing a “global war” and that the country must prepare for a difficult path ahead.
Iran has continued its drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries. Iran attacked the UAE and Bahrain's main aluminium producers on Saturday, causing damage to both their plants.
Emirates Global Aluminium and Aluminium Bahrain both confirmed their plants were affected by the attacks, with injuries reported at both sites.
In Oman, a drone attack on Salalah port “resulted in minor injuries to a foreign worker and limited damage to one of the cranes in the port's facilities”. Oman's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it condemned attacks on its territory but that no party had claimed responsibility.
It said authorities were investigating the “treacherous and cowardly” attacks and looking into their “true source and motives”.
Iranian threats to attack ships in the strait have kept most oil tankers from attempting the route. Iran has agreed to allow an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through the strait, with two ships permitted to transit daily, Mr Dar said.
Israel has attacked Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which has evacuated staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast, said the attacks threatened nuclear safety.
Iranian media has reported that strikes hit the University of Science and technology in the north-east of the capital overnight Friday to Saturday, damaging buildings but not causing any casualties.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz. But he extended a deadline he had imposed for this week, giving Iran another 10 days to respond. The window has provided an opportunity for negotiations.
Vice President JD Vance says the US needs to “neuter” Iran so it does not have to fight a war with Tehran again.
“The President is going to keep at it for a little while longer to ensure that we, once we leave, we don't have to do this again for a very, very long time,” he said.
With US midterm elections due in November, the increasingly unpopular war has weighed on Mr Trump's Republican Party. He has appeared eager to end it soon, while also threatening escalation.
Demonstrators took to city streets across the US on Saturday in anti-Trump rallies described by organisers as a call to action against the war on Iran.
