Iran’s interior minister Eskandar Momeni met Pakistan’s army chief and prime minister in Islamabad on Tuesday, the highest-level Iranian visit since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding collapsed in early July. The talks, confirmed by Pakistani officials and Iranian state-linked media, come as Washington has launched repeated strikes on Iran and Tehran has retaliated against states hosting US bases. Pakistan, which mediated the June MoU, is attempting to prevent the conflict from spreading to Saudi Arabia after Yemen’s Houthis announced a naval blockade against the kingdom.

Viewed from Washington, the diplomatic track runs parallel to a fresh trade offensive. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signalled that the Trump administration is preparing a new round of tariffs, with existing 10 percent levies set to expire on Friday. The announcement, reported by Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri, added to an already charged atmosphere in technology supply chains. Beijing is considering tightening export controls on AI and semiconductor technology, according to Financial Times sources, while Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is planning price increases of up to 10 percent, Nikkei Asia reported.

Equity markets absorbed the signals with a tilt toward defence and tech. US indices extended gains, led by AI-related stocks. In London, defence shares rose after the new prime minister appointed former defence secretary John Healey as finance minister. Stockholm’s broad index reversed early losses to close in positive territory, with Swedish defence firm Mildef climbing on a seven-year contract extension with the German armed forces worth an initial €95.4 million. Northrop Grumman, maker of the B-21 Raider bomber, disclosed a record order book.

The next factual marker is the Friday deadline for the current US tariff tranche. In parallel, diplomats in Islamabad are watching whether Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will issue a statement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a condition Pakistani intermediaries have linked to their mediation efforts, according to an intelligence source cited by German news agency dpa.