ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday said that Islamabad was working round the clock to assist thousands of Pakistanis stranded in Arab Gulf countries, reiterating his country’s readiness to facilitate diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Tensions in the region heightened on Saturday following coordinated strikes by the US and Israel against Iran, diminishing prospects of a peaceful settlement of Tehran’s long-running dispute with Western countries and Tel Aviv over its nuclear program.
Tehran subsequently targeted American bases in Gulf states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, prompting their governments to issue condemnations. The Saudi foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned Iran’s drone attack on the US embassy building in Riyadh.
Describing the Gulf situation as “very fluid,” Dar said regional airspace shutdowns had forced Pakistani religious pilgrims and visitors in Gulf states, also home to 4.5 million Pakistani expatriates, to mostly rely on land routes for their exit.
“The safety of Pakistanis abroad and the sovereignty of Pakistan remain our foremost priorities... Our crisis management unit is operational 24 hours to facilitate the stranded Pakistanis,” he said at a media briefing in Islamabad on Tuesday, adding that Pakistani missions in Tehran, Zahedan, Mashhad, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City and Manama were actively assisting nationals.
