- Meeting to review internal and external security.
- Top ministers, military leadership to attend session.
- Pakistan has condemned US attacks on Iran.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) today in response to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, following the United States strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
According to sources, the meeting will be attended by key federal ministers and senior military leadership.
The NSC is expected to deliberate on the rapidly evolving regional situation, particularly the Iran-Israel conflict, along with other pressing internal and external security matters.
The session comes as the United States has entered the conflict by launching direct strikes on Iran.
The Donald Trump administration used bunker-buster bombs and missiles to target three nuclear facilities located in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response, condemned the strikes ordered on Iran by President Trump, saying the decision to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities violated international law and that diplomacy was the only way to resolve the crisis.
“The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran is deeply disturbing. Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond,” the ministry said.
Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Shehbaz telephoned Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and “conveyed Pakistan’s condemnation of the US attacks” and reaffirmed Islamabad’s unwavering solidarity with the brotherly people and the Iranian government.
The scheduled NSC huddle comes hours after Pakistan joined China and Russia in circulating a draft resolution calling for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting.
The resolution urges “all parties to refrain from further escalation; demands the urgent protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure; and supports a diplomatic path forward on the Iranian nuclear issue that is acceptable to all parties”.
Speaking at the UNSC huddle, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Asim Iftikhar urged the key UN body to “promote urgent recourse to dialogue and diplomacy” and urged all parties to adhere fully to the international law in order to find a peaceful and lasting resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
