What happened
Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday 8 July 2026 that it was deeply concerned by the rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East and called on the United States and Iran to exercise maximum restraint after the two sides exchanged overnight strikes.
In a statement, the FO said “a renewed conflict is in no one’s interest” and that there was “no alternative to continued engagement, dialogue and diplomacy” to achieve peace in the region. It urged all sides to uphold their commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which it described as an enduring foundation for understanding, mutual respect and shared prosperity. The FO added that Islamabad remained ready to continue playing its role as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.
Why tensions flared
The statement followed intensified fighting triggered by Iranian attacks on vessels in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the report said. Iran’s military struck at least three ships in the days before, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday, followed by retaliatory Iranian attacks on Gulf countries. Both Washington and Tehran said they had struck dozens of targets.
Iranian state media reported a wave of explosions around the Strait of Hormuz, including six on Qeshm Island, seven in the city of Sirik and additional blasts in the port city of Bandar Abbas, and later reported explosions in the coastal city of Bushehr, near Iran’s main oil export terminal. A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was reported killed, and Iran’s foreign ministry said monitoring and observation sites along the southern coast had come under attack.
Trump says the ceasefire is over
Speaking at a Nato summit in Ankara on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire “over”, saying “as far as I’m concerned, it’s over” and that dealing with Tehran was “a waste of time”. He also warned that the United States would hit Iran “hard” that night.
The exchanges placed fresh strain on the interim agreement meant to end the conflict. The Islamabad MoU, signed after earlier strikes, gave both sides 60 days to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme and related issues, and required a complete halt to military operations on all fronts.
Why it matters
Pakistan has played a central role in facilitating dialogue between Washington and Tehran this year and has been publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration for those efforts. Its public call for restraint and its insistence that the Islamabad MoU remain the framework signal that Islamabad is trying to keep the mediation track alive even as the two sides trade strikes.
The statements attributed to Trump, the FO and Iranian officials are as carried by the cited report, which was reviewed on 2026-07-08.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details and quotations are as carried by the cited source, which was reviewed on 2026-07-08.
- Pakistan Today — "Pakistan urges US-Iran restraint as Middle East tensions spiral despite Islamabad peace accord"8 July 2026 · The Foreign Office statement, the Hormuz strikes, Trump's ceasefire remarks and the Islamabad MoU background.
