The China Mail - Iran, Israel trade strikes as push for talks intensifies

The three-week-old war, sparked by US-Israeli attacks that killed Iran's supreme leader, has upended global energy markets, roiled the world economy and spiralled throughout the region, even dragging in safe-haven Gulf nations.

Speculation has mounted that Pakistan could emerge as a mediator following an offer from its prime minister, a day after US President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced productive talks with Iran -- a claim Tehran swiftly denied.

On the ground, however, the hostilities continued, with Israel's army saying it had conducted a "large wave" of airstrikes across several areas of Iran including the central city of Isfahan.

In Tel Aviv, Israel reported four people wounded after missile fire from Iran, with AFP images showing rubble-strewn streets and the side of a three-storey building in ruins.

Earlier, Iranian media reported enemy warplanes had struck two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after Trump stepped back from his weekend threat to attack energy sites, citing the attempts at diplomacy.

Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all said they had intercepted renewed drone and missile attacks, as Iran kept up retaliatory strikes on US-allied Gulf states.

- 'Friendly countries' -

Trump on Monday said his administration was speaking with an unidentified "top person" in Iran, and extended by five days an ultimatum for the Islamic republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants obliterated.

But Tehran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said "no negotiations" were underway, accusing Trump of seeking "to manipulate the financial and oil markets".

Washington and Tehran do not have formal diplomatic relations, but Iran's foreign ministry on Monday acknowledged messages had been relayed by "friendly countries" indicating a "US request for negotiations".

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, promising Islamabad's help to bring peace to the region.

"Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict," Sharif wrote on X on Tuesday.

US media outlet Axios reported that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner may meet an Iranian delegation for talks in Pakistan as soon as this week, with Vice President JD Vance possibly joining.

Trump's administration has held two sets of multi-round talks with Iran on its nuclear programme since he returned to the White House, with both ending in surprise attacks on the Islamic republic -- in June last year and most recently on February 28.

Analysts said other countries with good relations with Tehran and Washington could also play a role as mediator, including Egypt and possibly Turkey.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that "talking is always better" than fighting.

And the US State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet G7 counterparts in France on Friday to discuss Iran.

- 'There's nothing left' -

Israel, meanwhile, stepped up its campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, saying its military would take control of south Lebanon up to the Litani river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.

Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs throughout the night, while a strike on Bshamoun, south of the capital, killed two people on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

"There's nothing left. It's all burned or destroyed... No walls, the windows are gone, the facade is gone, all my hard work has been lost," said Abbas Qassem, 55 from Bshamoun, weeping at the damage to his flat.

In Beirut, AFP images showed smoke billowing from gutted buildings, as rescuers picked through the rubble and twisted metal.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel's attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry, and displaced more than a million people.

The war has killed at least 3,230 Iranians, including 1,406 civilians, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. AFP cannot access strike sites nor independently verify tolls in Iran.

- 'Trust has been destroyed' -

Before again coming under fire on Tuesday, Iran's neighbours had breathed a sigh of relief when Trump stepped back from his earlier threat.

Tehran had vowed to deploy naval mines and strike power and water infrastructure across the region if its own plants were attacked.

Since the start of the US-Israeli attacks, Tehran has retaliated by throttling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices soaring and fuelling fears of higher inflation and weaker global growth.

Oil prices, which had tumbled after Trump's comments, rebounded slightly in Tuesday trade, with Brent back above $100 a barrel.

Although Iran's chokehold on the strait gives it leverage in potential negotiations, analysts remained doubtful of any breakthroughs.

"I'm very sceptical (about the talks) because trust has been completely destroyed and the positions of the warring parties are further apart than ever," David Khalfa, a Middle East specialist at the Jean-Jaures Foundation, a Paris-based think-tank, told AFP.

"The margin for manoeuvre on both sides is very limited."

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V.Liu--ThChM