Author: Uzma Ehtasham

By Uzma Ehtasham A month. That is how long it has been since the skies over Iran lit up with fire, since the Strait of Hormuz became a chokepoint of global anxiety, since the world was forced to remember how quickly a region can be set ablaze. The war imposed upon Iran by the United States and Israel has not been a distant conflict, one that the comfortable corners of the globe could watch with detached fascination. It has been a tremor under the feet of global finance, a spike in the price of everything that moves by sea, and…

By Uzma Ehtasham The latest signals from Tehran suggest that, for all the bluster and brinkmanship, a door – however narrow – remains ajar. Iran’s response to Pakistan’s recent diplomatic overtures, delivered through channels in Islamabad, indicates a willingness to engage, albeit on its own exacting terms. That Tehran has chosen to route its counter-proposals for a ceasefire through Pakistan, explicitly requesting they be passed to Washington, is itself a significant development. It speaks not only to a grudging acceptance of the need for talks but also to a tangible, if conditional, trust in Pakistan’s role as an intermediary. The…

By Uzma Ehtasham The countdown had begun. President Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expired on Monday morning, with the threat of devastating strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure hanging in the balance. Then, in a move that has sent a ripple of cautious relief across global capitals, Trump announced a five-day postponement. On Truth Social, his preferred megaphone, he spoke of “very good and productive” talks over the previous two days, claiming that several points of agreement had been reached. Detailed and constructive negotiations, he said, were under way. The strikes would…

By Uzma Ehtasham After Israeli‑led air strikes hit Iran’s nuclear‑enrichment infrastructure, Tehran has retaliated with missile barrages targeting the southern Israeli cities of Arad, Dimona and other central districts, marking a dangerous shift from regional posturing to direct confrontation. Reports indicate Iran has launched multiple waves of missiles at Dimona over the past 24 hours, laying bare deep damage to buildings and infrastructure in a town that also hosts Israel’s guarded nuclear‑research complex. The Iranian media frames these strikes as a measured response to the earlier assault on its enrichment site, but the choice of target—Dimona—has turned a tit‑for‑tat exchange…

By Uzma Ehtasham Pakistan’s rulers have discovered a cheap new language of sacrifice. It comes dressed in somber declarations of “austerity” and “national duty”, but melts away the moment it is asked to bear any real weight. This year’s Pakistan Day is the latest stage for this performance. The traditional 23 March parade, with its carefully choreographed displays of military power and pageantry, has been scrapped. In its place, the government offers simple flag-hoisting ceremonies and a litany of symbolic cutbacks, all advertised as proof of fiscal prudence in an era of oil shocks and empty coffers. The message from…

By Uzma Ehtasham There is a particular kind of silence that follows the shattering of a long-held illusion. It is not the silence of peace, but the hush of disbelief. For decades, the strategic doctrine of the United States and its most dependable ally in the Middle East rested upon a single, unspoken article of faith: that their combined military might was an immovable object, a shield against which no spear could hope to break. To witness that faith fracture in real time is to watch the geography of power rearrange itself not with the slow erosion of time, but…

By Uzma Ehtasham In the mist-shrouded valleys of north Kashmir, life has long been defined by a tension that is both immediate and enduring. The latest incident, in which the Indian army shot dead a young man accused of infiltration, is neither an anomaly nor a singular tragedy. It is instead a grim continuation of a pattern in which ordinary lives are subsumed into the machinery of conflict. For the residents of the valley, such killings are not headlines to be read and forgotten—they are reminders of a daily reality marked by fear, suspicion, and loss. Each death deepens the…

By Uzma Ehtasham KARACHI: The Iranian consul general in Karachi, Akbar Isazadeh, said that the Iranian nation remained united and insisted that US and Israeli ambitions of regime change would never succeed. In a detailed interview, he described recent tensions as an imposed conflict and said Iran was exercising its right to self-defence under international law. He said Iranian forces were targeting military and strategic assets of adversaries, which he claimed were linked to US interests in the region. Referring to Iran’s relations with Pakistan, Isazadeh expressed gratitude for Islamabad’s support, saying that Pakistan had shown solidarity at a time…

By Uzma Ehtasham In the troubled paradise of Kashmir, another young life has been extinguished. The Indian army, in its latest act of occupation, shot dead a youth in the north of the valley, labelling him an “infiltrator”—a word that has become a convenient epitaph for too many. This is the brutal, mundane reality of life under the world’s largest democracy: a place where extrajudicial killing is dressed up as national security and where the gun speaks louder than the law. However, the violence in Kashmir, while the most visible symptom of a deeper malaise, is no longer an isolated…

By Uzma Ehtasham There is a particular quality to the silence that follows a diplomatic bombshell. It is the hush of recalibration, the quiet moment when old certainties are weighed against new possibilities and found wanting. Such a silence now hangs over Islamabad following remarks by Russia’s envoy, Albert P. Khorev, who dangled before Pakistan the prospect of cheap Russian oil. The offer, delivered with the casual assurance of a man holding a winning hand, arrives at a moment of maximum regional volatility. As the United States and Israel press their campaign against Iran, and as Pakistan positions itself as…