Pakistan says it will host US-Iran talks, while Iran warns US ground
troops would be 'set on fire'
[March 30, 2026]
By MUNIR AHMED, SAMY MAGDY and CARA ANNA
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan announced Sunday that it would soon host talks
between the U.S. and Iran, though there was no immediate word from
Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether discussions on the
monthlong war would be direct or indirect.
"Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the U.S. have expressed their
confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks. Pakistan will be honored
to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the
coming days,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said after top diplomats from
Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia met in Islamabad.
Pakistan later said the diplomats had departed for their home countries.
The talks were originally scheduled to continue Monday. Pakistan's
foreign ministry did not answer questions, and Iran’s mission to the
United Nations declined to comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump didn't address the potential Pakistan talks
but said Sunday night that Washington was in discussions with Iran and
“we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation.”
Trump was asked aboard Air Force One if Iran had responded to a 15-point
ceasefire plan the U.S. has proposed and he said they did, adding: “They
gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?” He didn't elaborate.
Islamabad has emerged as a mediator, having relatively good ties with
Washington and Tehran, after what Pakistani officials call weeks of
quiet diplomacy.
Earlier, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed
the talks in Pakistan as a cover after some 2,500 U.S. Marines trained
in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East. He said Iranian
forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to
set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according
to state media.
Iran also threatened to attack homes of U.S. and Israeli “commanders and
political officials” in the region. A spokesperson for the Iranian
military's joint command, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, cited the “targeting of
residential homes of the Iranian people in various cities” and other
“malicious actions,” state media reported.
“We don’t know at what moment our homes could be targeted,” said Razzak
Saghir al-Mousawi, 71, describing relentless airstrikes as Iranians
crossing into Iraq urged the United States to end the war. “I am
definitely afraid.”
Meanwhile in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military
will widen its invasion of Lebanon, expanding the “existing security
strip” in that country’s south while targeting the Iranian-backed
Hezbollah militant group. No details were released.
Over 1 million Lebanese have been displaced in the war. One of them,
Mohammad Doghman, called Israel “an expansionist state.”
Fleeing Iranians urge US to end war
The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and
fertilizer and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait
of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices. Now the Iranian-backed Houthi
rebels' entry into the war could threaten shipping on another crucial
waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea.
While flying to Washington, Trump said Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships
carrying oil through the strait starting Monday morning and continuing
over the next few days “out of a sign of respect.”
Israel’s military said that its air force had intercepted two drones
launched from Yemen very early on Monday morning.
Late on Sunday, Israel’s military said that over the past 24 hours its
fighter jets had dropped more than 120 munitions in Tehran, targeting
sites used for weapons research, development and production. Around the
same time, Iran’s state television said power was back in areas of
Tehran that had experienced outages after attacks on electricity
facilities.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for launching
their first attack in the current war -- a missile fired at Israel,
which was also intercepted — early on Saturday morning.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in the war that began with U.S.
and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian attacks against
Israel and U.S. military assets and other sites in neighboring Gulf Arab
states. The war continues on the digital front as well.
Egypt says meetings aim for ‘direct dialogue’
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the meetings in Pakistan
are aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the U.S. and Iran,
which have largely communicated through mediators. The war began with
U.S. and Israeli strikes during indirect talks. Pakistan said the
foreign ministers met Sunday without U.S. or Israeli participation.
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In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
from left, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia's
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Pakistan's
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan
walk prior to their meeting to discuss the Middle East war, in
Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of
Foreign Affairs via AP)
Iranian officials have rejected a U.S. 15-point “action list” as a
framework for a possible peace deal and publicly dismissed the idea
of negotiating under pressure. But Iran’s state broadcaster has
reported that Tehran drafted its own five-point proposal reportedly
calling for a halt to killing Iranian officials, guarantees against
future attacks, reparations and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over
the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran has eased some restrictions on commercial ships in the strait,
agreeing late Saturday to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged vessels to
pass through. It "sends a clear signal that Iran remains open for
business with the world, provided the United States abandons
coercion,” said Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Iran.
An adviser to the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, called for
any settlement to the war to include “clear guarantees” that Iranian
attacks on neighbors will not be repeated. He said Iran's government
has become “the main threat” to Persian Gulf security, and called
for compensation for attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Iran threatens strikes on Israeli and US universities
Iran warned of escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several
universities, including ones that Israel claimed were used for
nuclear research and development. Concerns over Iran's nuclear
program are at the heart of tensions.
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Iran would consider
Israeli universities and branches of U.S. universities in the region
“legitimate targets” unless offered safety assurances for Iranian
universities, state media reported.
“If the U.S. government wants its universities in the region spared,
it should condemn the bombardment” of Iranian universities by midday
Monday, the Guard said.
U.S. colleges have campuses in Qatar and the UAE, including
Georgetown, New York and Northwestern universities. The American
University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University, also in
Beirut, moved classes online and called it a precautionary measure.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has said dozens of universities and research
centers have been hit, including the Iran University of Science and
Technology and Isfahan University of Technology.
Both sides in the war have threatened to attack civilian facilities,
which critics have warned could be a war crime.
Death toll climbs
In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed.
There were fears of more deaths after Netanyahu, speaking on a visit
to northern Israel, announced the expanded invasion. Hezbollah
“still has residual capability to fire rockets at us," he said.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in
the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the
conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.
In Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in
the occupied West Bank.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed in the war.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Anna from Lowville, New York.
Contributing were Associated Press writers Darlene Superville aboard
Air Force One; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Samya Kullab in Basra,
Iraq; Ali Sharafeddine in Beirut; and Christopher Weber in Los
Angeles.
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