An emergency meeting of the Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) will be held on Monday to discuss the regional situation after the US airstrike on three nuclear facilities in Iran. The NSC, chaired by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and comprising the top brass of both civil and military leadership, is the highest forum for security deliberations.
Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the NSC meeting will be held on Monday evening. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir will also attend the meeting, reports Dawn.
The field marshal, who recently returned from a trip to the US, will brief the committee on the details of his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which came four days after Munir’s meeting with Trump, have been condemned by Pakistan. According to AP, this development occurs less than 24 hours after Munir said Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for defusing a recent crisis with India.
In a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Prime Minister Shehbaz condemned the US attack and Israeli aggression. “The prime minister conveyed Pakistan’s condemnation of the US attacks, which followed Israel’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression over the past eight days,” said an official press release issued by the PMO.
He expressed concerns that the US struck facilities that were under the protection of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “These attacks constituted a serious violation of international law and the IAEA statute,” he added.
While noting Iran’s right to self-defence, as enshrined under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Prime Minister Shehbaz stressed the need for swift dialogues and called diplomacy “the only viable path forward”. He also called for urgent collective efforts to de-escalate the situation, and said Pakistan was ready to play a constructive role in this regard. According to the PMO, President Pezeshkian appreciated Pakistan’s support of Iran.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Office also condemned the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam has said his country could target US facilities and interests in the region. Responding to a question about US bases in the region during a conference, the ambassador said it was shameful that the US has military facilities in Muslim states.
However, he added that Iran “does not want to bring any other Islamic state into this war”. When asked about the damages during the US airstrike on Iran’s nuclear sites, he said Iran has the capability to make a nuclear arsenal but the country was using the technology for energy and medical purposes.