Regional diplomats gather in Pakistan for talks to end Iran war

Top diplomats from key regional powers were gathering in Pakistan on Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting in the Middle East, but there were few signs of progress as Israel and the US kept up strikes on Iran, and Tehran responded by firing missiles and drones across the region.Pakistan said foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt were taking part in the talks in Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive discussions” on regional hostilities.More than 3,000 people have been killed throughout the month-long war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, triggering Iran’s attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states. The war has also threatened oil and gas supplies with Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz shaking markets.The US and Israel were not taking part in the talks in Pakistan. The US has sent additional troops to the Middle East, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels entered the fighting over the weekend, threatening to widen the war and further hurt global shipping.Israel announced waves of incoming strikes from Iran on Sunday and explosions could be heard throughout Tehran.Diplomats try to break impasseEgypt’s Badr Abdelatty, Turkey’s Hakan Fidan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal Bin Farhan were in Islamabad as part of talks scheduled days after the US offered Iran a 15-point “action list,” delivered through Pakistan as a framework for a possible peace deal. Abdelatty said the meetings were aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the US and Iran, which have largely communicated through mediators during the war.