The Foreign Office has rejected a media report that Pakistan has committed to sending Shaheen III missiles to Iran following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

“Such reports are patently false,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. “Before paying any attention to such reports, it is important to reflect on the source behind such baseless reports and the malicious agenda behind them.”

Such claims were made by the Jerusalem Post in its report. It was also re-posted by the Tehran Times on social media platform X.

“This is a critical time in the Middle East. We, therefore, urge all parties, including the media, not to indulge in peddling of fake news,” Baloch said.

Haniyeh was visiting the Iranian capital for the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president when he was killed, along with his bodyguard, in what Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said was a strike on their accommodation early on July 31 morning.

The killing came just hours after Israel targeted and killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, raising fears of a wider escalation of the conflict in the region. Israel has not commented on the strike in Tehran.

Pakistan rejects Indian statements of involvement in Hasina’s ouster

The Foreign Office has rejected all statements emanating from India accusing Pakistan of any kind of involvement in recent developments that took place in Bangladesh.

“Pakistan rejects all such statements. Such statements depict India’s disturbing obsession with Pakistan,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.

Earlier this week, an Indian media outlet reported while quoting an intelligence report that Pakistan’s premium spy agency – Inter-Services Intelligence – changed the government in Bangladesh.

According to India Today, Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, is allegedly backed by ISI. It added that the acting chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia met with officials from the spy agency in Saudi Arabia.

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The FO spokesperson alleged that Indian political leaders and their media have a habit of blaming Pakistan for their failures in domestic and foreign policy. “Pakistan has expressed its strong support for the people of Bangladesh and solidarity with them as they continue to work towards a harmonious future.”

When asked, Baloch said that about 100 students still remain in Bangladesh.

“Our High Commission remains in contact with the students. It is our assessment that the situation of security is improving, and we will continue to ensure the safety of our students, who remain in Bangladesh,” she said.