In April 2023, many foreign observers found themselves startled when senior diplomats from Iran and Saudi Arabia met at a China-brokered summit in Beijing—the first high-level meeting between both inveterate foes in several years. Beijing appeared to demonstrate a new diplomatic prowess—an active willingness to mediate tensions in one of the most geopolitically challenging and conflict-ridden portions of the globe. […]

It was a shock to the system. Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was barred from formally running nominees under its own name, but PTI-aligned independent candidates nonetheless massively outperformed expectations in national elections on February 8, leading in a plurality, but not a majority, of seats in the National Assembly. Independent candidates representing PTI, the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister […]

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s election results saying they were “rigged”. The JUI-F, which suffered a huge defeat in the recent elections, has meanwhile called for nationwide protests against the alleged electoral manipulation by “anti-Islamic forces”. Fazl on Wednesday however called for Nawaz Sharif to join him on the opposition benches rather than form a government. […]

Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi said Wednesday in a meeting with Russia’s ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov that if the Islamic Emirate’s conditions are not taken into consideration ahead of the Doha meeting, then the IEA would prefer to sit this out. In answer to a question by Zhirnov on whether the IEA would attend the Doha gathering of special […]

Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Afghanistan Ilham Mammadov paid a courtesy call to Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to present the official letter from Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry regarding the opening of their embassy in Kabul, the ministry said in a statement Thursday. IEA’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a post on X that the meeting […]