- The Prime Minister calls for diplomacy over violence in the Middle East.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz calls on all parties to remain on the path of peace.
- US President Trump asks both sides to ‘stop shooting’.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday called on all parties involved in the renewed Iran-Israel hostilities in the Middle East to exercise restraint and “give peace a little more chance”.
Speaking on X, Prime Minister Shehbaz said: “The recent rise in violence in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the dangers of a tenuous ceasefire and the intolerable consequences it can lead to.”
He added: “As we work seriously and painstakingly with our brothers and partners to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict, and especially when the final goal is just about to be reached, we sincerely call on all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance.”
The Prime Minister further said: “Let us continue to remain on the path of peace and diplomacy, which has bright prospects for success instead of violence and destruction.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz’s statement comes after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect two months ago, despite US President Donald Trump’s calls for restraint.
Israel struck Iranian targets after Tehran fired missiles into Israeli territory late Sunday. Tehran said its strikes were in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Hezbollah strongholds on the outskirts of Beirut.
Israel hit a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it retaliated with an attack targeting a similar Israeli factory in the city of Haifa.
However, Iran and Israel said on Monday they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Trump for them to immediately “stop ‘shooting'”, although Tehran said it would resume attacks if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Oil prices – which had risen as much as 5% after the spate of attacks – later recovered as Iran’s military said its first wave of strikes against Israel was over. The dollar pulled back from its highest level in nearly two months.
