Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan warns against risk of conflict in region amid Iranian tensions with US, Saudi Arabia
Pakistan’s relations with Iran have also been strained in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border.

Islamabad: Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan warned against the risk of conflict in the region, following a visit to Islamabad by Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif as tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated. Strains have increased between Iran and the United States, which is a firm backer of Tehran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, in the wake of this month’s attack on oil tankers in the Gulf region that Washington has blamed on Iran.
Tehran has distanced itself from the bombings, but the United States has sent a aircraft carrier and an extra 1,500 troops to the Gulf, sparking concerns about the risks of conflict in a volatile region. Imran, who has been seeking to improve Pakistan’s strained relations with neighbour Iran, said he was concerned about the “rising tensions in the Gulf”, but did not specifically name the United States or Saudi Arabia. “He underscored that war was not a solution to any problem,” Khan’s office said in a statement late on Friday, citing the premier.
“Further escalation in tensions in the already volatile region was not in anyone’s interest. All sides needed to exercise maximum restraint in the current situation.” Washington has been seeking to increasingly tighten sanctions against Iran, as relations continue to worsen under President Donald Trump. At the end of the two-day visit to Pakistan, Zarif told Iranian State-run newswire IRNA that US allegations against Tehran were increasing tensions.
“These actions are also a threat to global peace and stability,” he said. Earlier this month, four tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were bombed near the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah emirate, one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs, located just outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington has accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of carrying out the attacks, and the Trump administration has declared a national security-related emergency that would clear the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, bypassing congressional approval. Pakistan’s relations with Iran have also been strained in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border.
also read

Why US lawmaker introduced bill to terminate Pakistan’s major non-NATO ally status and what it means
Created in 1987, the major non-NATO ally designation is a symbol of a country’s close relationship with the US. Pakistan, which received this designation under the Bush administration, enjoys several perks under this status including access to excess US defence supplies and eligibility for loans

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelling around the world with 'begging bowl', says Imran Khan
Khan's comments came weeks after Sharif's two-day visit to the UAE during which the Gulf emirate agreed to extend an existing loan of $2 billion and provide an additional loan of $1 billion to help cash-strapped Pakistan tackle its economic woes, including the fast depleting foreign exchange reserve

On a sticky wicket, Imran Khan pitches comeback
Ousted Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan assured that he would make 'policies like never before' after coming to power in the country