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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday visited the Iranian embassy in Islamabad and assured Tehran of Islamabad’s continued support, following last month’s Israeli attacks on Iran.
The 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which began on June 13 Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and military leadership, raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.
Pakistan remained engaged in talks with regional partners like ����ֱ��, Iran, China and Qatar to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after Iran conducted retaliatory strikes on Israel and a US base in Qatar, raising fears the conflict could draw in other regional states.
During his visit to the Iranian embassy, Sharif signed a condolence book opened by the Iranian mission to honor the Iranians who were killed and injured during the Israeli attacks against Iran, according to the Pakistan PM’s office.
“He expressed his deepest condolences to the people and Government of Iran, while reaffirming Pakistan’s sympathy and solidarity with Iran during this difficult time,” Sharif’s office said.
“While assuring the Iranian side of Pakistan’s consistent and continued support, the Prime Minister also conveyed his good wishes and respects for Iranian Supreme Leader His Eminence Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, as well as for President Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian.”
On Monday, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir offered a sharply increased, government-issued death toll from the war, saying that the Israeli attacks killed 935 “Iranian citizens,” including 38 children and 102 women.
The Israeli strikes came at a time when Iranian officials were engaged in nuclear negotiations with the US and the conflict worsened after the US struck three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22. President Donald Trump claimed the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by years.
Iran is assessing the damage and lashing out over the American and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear sites, though Tehran kept open the possibility Tuesday of resuming talks with Washington over its atomic program, AP news agency reported.
The comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh MoHajjerani also included another acknowledgment that Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, key sites within Iran’s nuclear program, had been “seriously damaged” by the American strikes.
“No date (for US talks) is announced, and it’s not probably very soon, but a decision hasn’t been made in this field,” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted MoHajjerani as saying at a briefing for journalists.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also kept open the possibility of talks with the US.

KARACHI/SINGAPORE: Pakistan is exploring ways to sell excess liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes amid a gas supply glut that could cost domestic producers $378 million in annual losses, according to a presentation and a government official familiar with the matter.

The country has at least three LNG cargoes in excess that it imported from top supplier Qatar and has no immediate use for, and is currently selling natural gas at steep discounts to local users, a second government official said.

Power generation from gas-fired power plants, which has historically accounted for a lion’s share of LNG use in the country, has declined for three straight years ended 2024, with cheaper solar power use dramatically gaining at the expense of gas-fired generation, data from energy think-tank Ember showed.

That has forced domestic producers of the fuel to curb production.

Pakistan is currently exploring the possibility of transferring LNG cargoes to rented tankers for “offshore storage and onward sale,” state-owned oil and gas producer OGDCL said in a presentation to industry and government.

“Excess LNG in the gas network has resulted in significant production operations impact for local exploration and production companies over last 18 months,” OGDCL said, adding that it had forced curtailment of domestic supply.

The domestic industry could suffer $378 million in losses over the next 12 months at the current rate of curtailment, according to the presentation dated May 29 reviewed by Reuters.

It is not immediately clear if Pakistan’s long-term LNG import contracts with QatarEnergy allows for a resale of cargoes. One of the government officials said the country was still exploring ways to do it.

Qatar typically has a destination clause in long-term supply contracts with buyers that restrict where the cargoes can be sold.

QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Pakistan has already deferred five contracted LNG cargoes from Qatar without financial penalty, shifting delivery from 2025 to 2026, as the country grapples with surplus capacity.

Pakistan’s petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik declined to comment on the presentation, but said renegotiating contracts with Qatar was a “complex” process that could take at least a year, and a final decision on initiating it had yet to be made.

“While the existing contract with Qatar allows Pakistan to decline vessels, doing so incurs penalties and other complications,” Malik told Reuters.

The glut has stemmed from several gas-fired power plants, previously operating under must-run contracts, now being sidelined, Malik said.

“It was expected that summer season will create extraordinary demand but the trend indicates the opposite,” OGDCL said in the presentation.