As Mideast leaders seek an end to the war, Iran is warning the US of a global attack
Iran’s top official warned the US of a global attack, saying American forces would be “set on fire,” as regional diplomats met in Pakistan on Sunday to end the months-long war.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the weekend talks as a cover while the US sends more troops to the Middle East. He said that Iran is willing to face any American forces on its soil and will respond harshly against the US military and Washington’s regional allies, according to Iranian state media.
This came at a time when Pakistan said that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt held talks in Islamabad without the participation of the US or Israel. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had “extensive discussions” on regional tensions.
Yet there were few signs of progress as Israel and the US continued to raid Iran, and Tehran responded by firing missiles and drones across the region.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in the month-long war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which led to Iran attacking Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab countries.
Israel announced a wave of strikes from Iran on Sunday and explosions could be heard throughout Tehran.
Mideast leaders are trying to end the conflict in weekend talks
Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty, Turkey’s Hakan Fidan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal Bin Farhan were in Islamabad as part of talks scheduled days after the US presented Iran with a 15-point “action list” as a framework for a possible peace deal. Abdellatty said the meetings are aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the US and Iran, which has talked a lot about mediators during the war.
However, during the negotiations, Iran eased some restrictions on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It was agreed late Saturday to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged ships to pass through the critical passage, Pakistani officials said, adding to the few fears that Iran is working to clamp down but not completely cut off.
The weekend offered little sign of talks easing the rift between the US and Iran. US officials have insisted that war could be on the verge of an outbreak, but Iran’s leaders continue to publicly reject talks.
In contrast, the United States has sent thousands of additional Marines and paratroopers to the region. And the Iran-backed Houthis, who rule parts of Yemen, announced their long-awaited entry into the war, launching missiles at what they called “critical Israeli military positions” for the first time on Saturday.
Despite the deployment, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington “can achieve all of our goals without ground troops” as domestic opposition grows to expanding the war on a possible attack, including from Republicans.
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However, Iranian officials rejected the American proposal and publicly rejected the idea of negotiating under pressure. However, Press TV, the English-language arm of Iran’s state broadcaster, reported last week that Tehran had drafted its own five-point proposal, citing an anonymous official. The plan reportedly calls for a halt to the killing of Iranian officials, assurances of future attacks, reparations and “Iran’s exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Tehran threatens retaliatory strikes on Israeli and US universities
Iran on Sunday warned of further escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, including ones Israel says are used for nuclear weapons research and development.
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned in a statement that Iran would consider Israeli universities and branches of American universities in the region “legitimate targets” unless security guarantees were provided for Iranian universities, state media reported.
American colleges including Georgetown, New York University and Northwestern have campuses in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“If the US government wants its universities in the region to survive, it should condemn the bombing of (Iranian) universities at 12 o’clock on Monday, March 30, in an official statement,” the security guard said.
It also demanded that the US stop Israel from striking Iranian universities and research institutes. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday that a number of universities and research institutes were hit, including Iran University of Science and Technology and Isfahan University of Technology.
Houthi involvement is cause for concern
Houthi Brig. General Yahya Saree said on the rebel television channel Al-Masirah on Saturday that they fired missiles at “Israeli military positions” in the south.
The group – which controls parts of Yemen – has carried out repeated attacks targeting Israel and Red Sea vessels during the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli strikes in Yemen last year killed the prime minister of the rebel-led government and a top army general.
If the Houthis increase their attacks on commercial shipping, it will increase oil prices and disrupt “all maritime security,” said Ahmed Nagi, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The impact will not be limited to the energy market.”
Bab el-Mandeb, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is important for ships to the Suez Canal across the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has been moving millions of barrels of crude oil a day because the Strait of Hormuz has been successfully closed.
Houthi rebels have attacked more than 100 merchant ships with missiles and drones, sinking two ships, between November 2023 and January 2025. They have captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis on behalf of the exiled Yemeni government in 2015. Now they are worried.
The death toll is rising
Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
In Lebanon, where Israel launched an offensive in the south targeting Hezbollah terrorists, officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the country since the war began.
In Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias have joined the war, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.
In the Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four died in the West Bank.
–Metz reported to Ramallah and Magdy from Cairo.
