Pakistan and Austria have agreed to further cement their bilateral relationship in diverse fields including economic cooperation, trade and investment, tourism, hospitality, education, IT, healthcare, human resource development and mobility.

The understanding was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker in Vienna on Monday.

Both leaders agreed to work towards the early finalization of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) covering these priority sectors. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments, reaffirming the central role of the United Nations in addressing challenges related to peace and security, peaceful dispute resolution, sustainable development, climate action and the promotion of human rights.

The two sides expressed their shared commitment to multilateralism and appreciated mutual support for each other’s candidatures at international forums, while pledging to work with the global community to strengthen the UN system.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chancellor Stocker also co-chaired a CEOs Forum comprising leading Austrian and Pakistani companies. The participating firms represented sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, industrial manufacturing and construction, IT, textiles, surgical equipment, leather and sports goods, healthcare, tourism and hospitality, and food and agro-industries.

It was agreed to enhance government-to-government (G2G), government-to-business (G2B), and business-to-business (B2B) engagements through effective utilization of existing platforms.

The Prime Minister invited Austrian businesses to participate in the upcoming EU-Pakistan Business Forum scheduled to be held in Islamabad in April.

Shehbaz Sharif thanked Chancellor Stocker for the productive meetings, expressing hope that the visit would provide fresh momentum to bilateral ties. He also extended an invitation to the Austrian Chancellor to undertake an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

Upon his arrival at the Federal Chancellery, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was received by Chancellor Stocker and accorded a guard of honour. He later held a restricted meeting with the Chancellor, followed by delegation-level talks.

• Iran seeks sanctions relief in exchange for nuclear curbs.
• US deploys warships, prepares for possible military campaign.
• IAEA demands Iran account for missing enriched uranium.
  

BUDAPEST: A day before Washington–Tehran nuclear talks in Geneva, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that making a deal with Iran will be difficult.

The US secretary of state made the remarks during his visit to the Hungarian capital Budapest on Monday.

He said: “I think that there’s an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we’re concerned about. We’ll be very open and welcoming to that. But I don’t want to overstate it either.”

“It’s going to be hard. It’s been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran, because we’re dealing with … who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones,” Rubio said:

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister met with the UN nuclear watchdog chief today.

The development came as Washington, which joined Israel in a wave of air strikes on Iran in June, has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in the latest standoff with Tehran, in addition to other US warships and aircraft that have already been deployed.

Adding to the tension, Iran began a military drill on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route from Gulf Arab states, who have been appealing for diplomacy to end the dispute.

The US and Iran renewed negotiations earlier this month hoping to tackle their dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel all believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

Scope of talks expands to missile stockpile

However, Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Tehran says it is only willing to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and won’t accept zero uranium enrichment. It says its missile capabilities are off the table.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was in Geneva to “achieve a fair and equitable deal”.

“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Araqchi said on X.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against any attack, which would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.

The waterway connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have conducted a drill named “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz”, to test the readiness of the guards’ naval units to protect the waterway, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Monday.

“Intelligently utilising the geopolitical advantages of the Islamic Republic in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman are among the main objectives of this exercise,” Tasnim said.

Iran’s civil defence organisation held a chemical defence drill in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone on Monday to strengthen preparedness for potential chemical incidents in the energy hub located in southern Iran.

Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi on Sunday signalled Iran’s readiness to compromise on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, telling the BBC that the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.”

Prior to the US joining Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran-US nuclear talks had stalled over Washington’s demand that Tehran forgo enrichment on its soil, which the US views as a pathway to an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes and is ready to assuage concerns regarding nuclear weapons by “building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Araqchi had discussed cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as Tehran’s technical point of view regarding nuclear talks with the US during his meeting with IAEA head Rafael Grossi.

IAEA seeks clarity on enriched uranium

The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440 kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium following Israeli-US strikes and let inspections fully resume, including in three key sites that were bombed in June last year: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told US President Donald Trump last week that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process.

Netanyahu said he is sceptical of a deal but it must include enriched material leaving Iran. “There shall be no enrichment capability – not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place,” he said.

• Naveed Akram faces 59 charges over December 14 attack.
• Akram appears via video link from Goulburn Correctional Centre.
• Akram seat smostly in silence during the proceedings.

A man accused of opening fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach in an attack that killed 15 people appeared in court for the first time on Monday, Australian media reported.

Naveed Akram, 24, faces 59 charges over the December 14 attack, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder and a terror offence.

Police allege he carried out the mass shooting with his father Sajid, 50, who was shot dead at the scene.

During a brief status mention at a Sydney court on Monday, Akram appeared via video link from Goulburn Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison southwest of Sydney, where he is being held on remand, media reported.

Akram wore prison greens and sat mostly in silence during the proceedings. He spoke only to acknowledge that he heard a discussion about extending non-publication orders for the details of the victims.

Outside court, Akram’s lawyer Ben Archbold said his client was doing “as well as he can be” given the “very onerous conditions” in prison.

Archbold said it was too early to say how Akram would plead and that he had not discussed details of the alleged attack with him.

“I haven’t spoken to him about the attack in that regard,” he told reporters.

“All that we’re doing at the moment is starting the process … we’re waiting for the brief to be served, there’s nothing more I can say.”

Archbold added that he had visited Akram in prison.

“He’s just a client, and he’s a client that needs to be represented. And we don’t let our personal view get in the way of our professional obligations. The matter has been adjourned, I have nothing more to say.”

The case is expected to return to court in April.