Diplomatic efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire between the United States and Iran continued on Wednesday, as Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi travelled to Tehran for the second time in less than a week amid ongoing mediation between the two sides.
The visit comes despite escalating rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran threatening a return to war if negotiations collapse.
According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, Naqvi travelled to Tehran to meet Iranian officials as Islamabad continues efforts to mediate between Iran and the United States following the US-Israeli war on Iran that began on 28 February.
Pakistan hosted high-level talks between Iranian and US delegations last month, while a fragile ceasefire that came into effect on 8 April helped contain the escalation.
Both Tehran and Washington have repeatedly acknowledged that messages continue to be exchanged through Pakistani mediation in an effort to reach an agreement ending the war.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were still ongoing through the Pakistani mediation channel.
He added that although Washington had publicly rejected Iran’s latest proposal, Tehran had received a package of American comments and amendments through Pakistan last week, which Iranian officials reviewed before sending back a response.
The renewed diplomatic activity comes as US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Washington could strike Iran again if no deal is reached.
“I was one hour away yesterday from deciding to launch attacks on Iran today,” Trump told reporters, adding that matters with Iran would end either “with a deal or with a military solution”.
US Vice President JD Vance nevertheless said there had been "a lot of progress" in the negotiations, while stressing Washington remained prepared to resume military operations if talks fail.
A report published by The New York Times on Tuesday also revealed details of an alleged joint US-Israeli plan to install former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran’s new leader during the war.
According to the newspaper, Israel bombed Ahmadinejad's home in Tehran at the onset of the conflict as an attempt to free him from house arrest and position him for a possible leadership role.
The report said Ahmadinejad was injured in the strike but later became disillusioned with the regime change effort. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that any new attack against Iran would expand "beyond the region".
"Despite aggression against us using the full capabilities of the world’s two most expensive armies, we have not yet used all the capabilities of the Islamic Revolution against them," the IRGC said in a statement carried by the conservative Tasnim news agency.
"Our devastating strikes will hit locations you cannot imagine," it added. Drones launched from Iraq Separately, three drones were launched from within Iraqi territory towards the UAE’s Barakh Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday, according to the Emirati Ministry of Defence.
The latest drone attack comes after authorities announced that UAE air defences had been successful in intercepting six drones that attempted to target civil and vital areas over the past 48 hours.
In response, Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said government efforts were underway to contain the repercussions of the crisis and prevent it from escalating into a larger threat.
Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi reiterated the sentiment, telling local media that "Iraq is not an open arena for conflicts".
Speaking to The New Arab on condition of anonymity, another Iraqi government official said security leaders had begun efforts to contain activities within its territory by implementing technical and security measures to restructure air security and the general field surveillance system.
"These measures include deploying additional radars in several areas, monitoring drone paths, linking air defences to a central command, and tightening control over desert areas and western Iraq, which are often considered security vulnerabilities," he said.