- Shehbaz, Rubio agrees to deepen the links, to focus on trade.
- The PM reaffirms the role of Pakistan in the promotion of peace in the Middle East.
- Rubio supports Islamabad’s efforts, judges the support for regional cooperation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the United States on Thursday for helping to negotiate a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, awarding President Donald Trump’s management for the breakthrough.
His remarks occurred during a cordial telephone call with American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which the two parties discussed bilateral links and regional developments.
According to an official statement, the Prime Minister also thanked Secretary Rubio for the role of Washington by helping to facilitate the Pakistani-Indian cease-fire, calling it a significant contribution to regional stability.
The two leaders have agreed to continue working in close collaboration to strengthen Pakistani-American relations, emphasizing the expansion of trade and economic cooperation.
Discussing the broader situation in the Middle East, Shehbaz has reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to play a constructive role in promoting peace in the region.
Secretary Rubio praised Pakistan’s efforts and expressed the interest of the United States to collaborate in ensuring long-term regional stability.
Iran-Israeli conflict
The Israel’s bombing campaign, launched with a surprise attack on June 13, has erased the upper level of the Iranian military leadership and killed the main nuclear scientists.
Iran responded with missiles that pierced for the first time from the defenses of Israel.
Iranian authorities said 627 people had been killed and nearly 5,000 injured in Iran, where the extent of damage could not be confirmed independently due to close restrictions on the media.
Twenty-eight people were killed in Israel.
Israel claimed to have achieved its objectives to destroy the nuclear sites and missiles of Iran; Iran said it forced the end of the war by penetrating the Israeli defenses.
During the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump publicly suggested that he could end with the reversal of the entire Iranian office system, established in his 1979 Revolution.
But after the ceasefire, Trump said that he did not want to see the “regime change” in Iran, which, according to him, would bring chaos to a time when he wanted the situation to settle down.
However, in Iran and Israel, the residents expressed their relief at the end of the fighting, but also to apprehension.
