US-Iran clash escalates, Pakistan warns of war risk

The United States intensified its confrontation with Iran on 16 July, striking Iranian defence sites and missile installations on Greater Tunb island and conducting a second wave of air attacks on Iranian cities. The U.S. also fired a Hellfire missile to neutralise an un‑laden oil tanker heading for Iran’s Kharg Island after the vessel ignored warnings. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard responded by hitting U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared the nation was in an “existential war” with the United States.

Amid the heightened tensions, Pakistan – a nuclear‑armed state that has a defence pact with Saudi Arabia – warned it could be drawn into the conflict after Houthi rebels attacked Saudi soil. Pakistani officials said, “the attacks on Saudi Arabia are attacks on Pakistan,” and noted that thousands of troops and a fighter‑jet squadron are already deployed near the Saudi‑Yemen border. Pakistan fears disruption of Red Sea shipping routes and the broader impact on its energy supplies, urging all parties to restrain and pursue diplomatic dialogue.