Pakistan on Thursday urged the United States and Iran to exhibit "restraint" and resolve the issues that have ratcheted up tensions between them through negotiations, Dawn reported while quoting Radio Pakistan.
Addressing a weekly news conference, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal termed the recent developments in the Persian Gulf as "disturbing".
He said Washington's decision to deploy an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf had "added to the tension[s] and the existing precarious security situation in the Middle East".
"Any miscalculated move can transmute into a large scale conflict," the Foreign Office spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The remarks come a day after the US ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, and Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran.
Recent days have seen allegations of sabotage targeting oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a drone attack by Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of US warships and bombers to the region.
At the root of this appears to be President Donald Trump's decision a year ago to pull the US from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, embarking on a maximalist sanctions campaign against Tehran. In response, Iran's supreme leader issued a veiled threat on Tuesday, saying it wouldn't be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels.
Dr Faisal during the news briefing also announced that the UAE government had decided to release 572 Pakistani prisoners who were incarcerated in its jails.
He said that the Pakistani mission in the Emirates was in touch with local authorities in order to expedite their release and deportation.
Addressing a weekly news conference, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal termed the recent developments in the Persian Gulf as "disturbing".
He said Washington's decision to deploy an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf had "added to the tension[s] and the existing precarious security situation in the Middle East".
"Any miscalculated move can transmute into a large scale conflict," the Foreign Office spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The remarks come a day after the US ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, and Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran.
Recent days have seen allegations of sabotage targeting oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a drone attack by Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of US warships and bombers to the region.
At the root of this appears to be President Donald Trump's decision a year ago to pull the US from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, embarking on a maximalist sanctions campaign against Tehran. In response, Iran's supreme leader issued a veiled threat on Tuesday, saying it wouldn't be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels.
Dr Faisal during the news briefing also announced that the UAE government had decided to release 572 Pakistani prisoners who were incarcerated in its jails.
He said that the Pakistani mission in the Emirates was in touch with local authorities in order to expedite their release and deportation.