PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad sees itself as the discreet but indispensable pivot. Trump confirmed it publicly: Pakistan 'continues its mediation efforts' in negotiations with Iran — 'they're close to Iran,' the US president said. It was Pakistan that brokered the April truce, and Pakistani coverage relays every sign of this regained centrality. But Islamabad also watches Washington with a certain critical distance: the Pakistani press points to the American domestic backlash, quoting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decrying 'a new all-time high for Trumpflation' — inflation at 4.2% in May against 3.4% wage growth, a sign real incomes are eroding. Coverage also relays the new US sanctions package, dubbed 'Economic Fury,' targeting nine entities accused of aiding the Guards and Iran's defense ministry, and carries the calls for restraint from China ('deeply concerned') and Russia ('extremely concerned'). The material fallout isn't forgotten either: the Pakistani press notes that Saudi Arabia's new carrier Riyadh Air launched its first flight to London in the middle of the war, its boss playing down the conflict's impact — proof the region is trying to function despite the strikes. For Islamabad the balance is delicate: a useful mediator to Washington, a neighbor of Iran, and a clear-eyed observer of an America whose war is being paid for in cash at the pump.