Iran cautions against escalation as diplomatic efforts continue amid conflict

AP, March 29, 2026, Dubai : A top Iranian official warned the US against a ground invasion, saying American troops would be set “on fire”, as regional diplomats gathered in Pakistan on Sunday in a push to broker an end to the month-long war.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed weekend talks as a cover while the US dispatches additional troops to the Middle East. He said Iran was prepared to confront any American forces on its soil and would respond harshly against both US troops and Washington’s regional allies, according to Iranian state media.

The remarks came as Pakistan said the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt were holding talks in Islamabad without US or Israeli participation. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had held “extensive discussions” on the regional hostilities.

Yet there were few signs of progress as Israel and the US kept up strikes on Iran, and Tehran responded by firing missiles and drones across the region.

More than 3,000 people have been killed throughout the month-long war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, triggering Iran’s attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states. Israel announced waves of incoming strikes from Iran on Sunday, and explosions could be heard throughout Tehran.

Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty, Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan were in Islamabad as part of talks scheduled days after the US offered Iran a 15-point “action list” as a framework for a possible peace deal. Abdelatty said the meetings were aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the US and Iran, which have largely communicated through mediators during the war.