Pakistan condemns US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities
Lahore (PTI): Pakistan on Sunday condemned the US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, calling them a violation of international law and warning of the risk of further escalation of violence in the region.
Pakistan's condemnation came a day after Pakistan backed US President Donald Trump as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The US on early Sunday morning attacked Iran's Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites with the aim of destroying the country's nuclear programme. US President Trump warned of additional strikes if Iran retaliates.
Reacting to the development, the Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan in a statement said: "Pakistan condemns the US attacks on the nuclear facilities of Iran, which follow the series of attacks by Israel. We are gravely concerned at the possible further escalation of tensions in the region."
Pakistan said that these attacks "violate all norms of international law" and that Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN Charter.
"The unprecedented escalation of tensions 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," it said.
The Foreign Office further said: "We emphasise the imperative need to respect civilian lives and properties and immediately bring the conflict to an end.
It proposed a dialogue among the stakeholders to address the crises in the region.
"All parties must adhere to international law, particularly international humanitarian law," the FO said.
"Recourse to dialogue and diplomacy in line with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter remains the only viable pathway to resolve the crises in the region," it said.
Interestingly, the Pakistan government on Saturday said it will formally recommend US President Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his "decisive diplomatic intervention" during the recent India-Pakistan conflict.
Meanwhile, none of the main leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Peoples Party have yet issued any statement on the US attack on Iran's three nuclear sites, which analysts say is because of the "military establishment's cordial relations with US President Donald Trump."
The Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan also strongly condemned the Trump administration for "blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty and breach of international law."
"Israel has finally and cunningly succeeded in convincing the United States to directly attack Iran’s three nuclear installations — despite both US intelligence and the IAEA clearly stating there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb," Zulfi Bokhari, PTI's senior leader and close aide to Khan, said.
Every time Iran has chosen the path of diplomacy, it has been deceived and attacked. The latest aggression is a blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty and a clear breach of international law.
"We, the people of Pakistan, strongly condemn the United States’ attack on Iran," Bokhari said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s "relentless greed to hold on to power has destabilised the entire Middle East", he said.
"He has proven to be, single-handedly, the greatest threat to peace and prosperity in the region — and potentially, the world," he added.
Other than Pakistan, Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Oman condemned the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities by the US.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following with deep concern the developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States of America," the Saudi Foreign Ministry posted on X.
"The Kingdom reaffirms the contents of its statement on June 13, 2025, in which it condemned and denounced the violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran," it said.
Qatar expressed its regret over the deterioration of the situation following the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. It warned that the current dangerous tensions in the region will lead to disastrous repercussions at the regional and international levels.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
