Pakistan’s president urges restraint after killing of Iranian security chief

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday called for restraint and dialogue following the killing of Iran's security chief Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike.

"Pakistan stands ready to help de-escalate tensions in the region," Zardari said, expressing "deep grief and sorrow" over Larijani's death, according to an official statement.

Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli strike. He had appeared publicly last Friday during Quds Day rallies in Tehran.

In a separate statement, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a senior leader in Indian-administered Kashmir, condemned the killing.

"Condemn the targeted killing of Secretary Ali Larijani by the rogue state of Israel!" Farooq wrote the US social media platform X.

Farooq also said he was placed under house arrest by Indian authorities as he was about to deliver a sermon at Srinagar's Gol Masjid, adding: "What a shame!"

Separately, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a phone call with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, expressed solidarity over casualties from recent attacks and stressed the need for peace, stability and dialogue in the region.

Israel and the US have carried out joint strikes on Iran since Feb. 28, which Tehran says have killed around 1,300 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has since retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, disrupting infrastructure, aviation and global oil markets.