Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has postponed ​a planned long march from Peshawar to Islamabad ‌until October 4, the chief minister of the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Sohail Afridi, told reporters on Friday.

PTI had planned ​to begin the march on September 27 to ​press for the release of Khan, who has ⁠been in jail since 2023. The PTI’s last ​large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes ​with security forces, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, Pakistan curbed access to its capital, Islamabad, by blocking major highways with shipping containers and deploying ​tens of thousands of security forces, ahead of the ​march planned by Khan’s supporters.

Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari, however, told Reuters ‌that ⁠although they had moved the planned date to October 4, they could launch the march earlier.

“We can now do it whenever we deem fit. The question ​is to the ​government, as ⁠to how long they’re willing to keep the country closed off?”, Bukhari said.

Authorities have ​detained three of Khan’s sisters and hundreds ​of ⁠party activists in recent days, citing a need to maintain public order.

Khan, 73, a former cricket star ousted ⁠by ​parliament in a 2022 no-confidence vote, ​has claimed to be a political prisoner.

Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority called on soldiers in the kingdom to be ready to lay ‌down their lives to fight the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, a statement posted on the Saudi state news agency said.

The rare and strongly worded message by Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country’s borders and ​drew heavily on Quranic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Mohammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defence ​of God, Reuters reported.

It comes after weeks of escalating violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis which has ⁠seen the Iran-backed group attack the kingdom with salvos of missiles and drones and Saudi Arabia respond with airstrikes.

Observers have ​been questioning whether Saudi Arabia will launch a broader military operation along with Yemeni government forces it backs.

“Protecting this great nation… and ​punishing anyone who seeks to lay a hand on even an inch of its territory are among the greatest duties and most virtuous acts of devotion, for which lives and souls may be sacrificed in seeking God’s pleasure,” said the statement, issued late Thursday.

Asserting the authority of the ​Saudi-backed internationally recognized Yemeni government over the entire country was “among the most pressing obligations,” it added.

Those government forces lost control of ​the vital Bab el-Mandeb waterway to the Houthis two weeks back, a blow to the kingdom, which has been mired in the conflict since ‌2015 ⁠after it launched an unsuccessful operation to oust the Houthis from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The recent fighting is the latest episode in 12 years of civil war in Yemen which had largely been frozen since a 2022 but has escalated again and has become linked to the wider Iran war.

“We ask God Almighty to grant you all his support, and to protect our countries and ​beloved Yemen from all harm. ​We also ask him to ⁠bring about the complete defeat of the Houthi group and those who assist and support them,” the statement said.

The Mufti’s letter adds to a growing religiously centered narrative by authorities in the ​conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom aimed at discrediting the Houthis, who follow a different sect of ​Islam.

State TV has ⁠in recent weeks aired footage of an alleged Houthi strike on a mosque in the kingdom’s south, and authorities have also accused the Houthis of launching an attack on Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.

“It is incumbent upon you, brothers serving on the front lines, to ⁠remain constantly ​prepared to perform your duty, to obey the rulers and your field commanders, ​and to carry out orders with the utmost precision, as God Almighty commanded the companions of his Prophet to do,” the statement said.

“You are following in ​the footsteps of the Prophet’s companions, defending the sacred sites of Muslims.”

Iranian airlines cancelled some international flights on Wednesday after the United States imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector.

Georgia and Azerbaijan confirmed the suspension of flights to Iran, while a travel agent in Tehran told AFP that flights to Baghdad, Muscat and Qatar had also been halted. Flights to several other destinations, including China, continued.

The new US measures were announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday as Washington seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran amid the ongoing conflict.

“We are squeezing the Iranians like they’ve never seen,” Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday, claiming that more than 80% to 90% of Iran’s international flights had been affected.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, rejected the pressure.

“The resistance of the Iranian people will only intensify in the face of sanctions, mounting pressure and growing intimidation” from the United States, Pezeshkian said.

Iran’s aviation industry has faced US sanctions for years, but the latest measures could further restrict international connections.

Despite the new sanctions, flight-tracking data showed a Mahan Air flight from Tehran arriving in Guangzhou, China, on Wednesday. A flight to Shanghai was also scheduled to depart from Tehran’s international airport.

China has opposed the new US sanctions, describing them as illegal.

Some flights to Istanbul also continued, although others were cancelled, according to the Tehran-based travel agent, who said the situation remained uncertain.

“The situation is unstable and we are no longer selling tickets for the time being for fear of cancellations,” the agent told AFP.

Flights connecting Iran with Turkey and Armenia were also still possible on some smaller Iranian airlines, while flights to Najaf in Iraq and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were listed as scheduled.

Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned neighbouring countries against complying with the US measures.

“If a country cooperates with or embarks on adventures with the United States, its airports will no longer be able to operate flights” to Iran, he told Iranian state television.

The possible suspension of flights between Iran and Iraq has raised particular concerns because of the large number of Iranian religious pilgrims who travel to Iraq.

Iranian media reported that authorities were considering rerouting flights from Baghdad to Najaf. AFP also reported that several sources in Iraq said Baghdad would comply with the US sanctions, although the Iraqi government had not publicly announced a flight ban.

Travel agents in Najaf said passengers were seeking information about possible cancellations and considering travelling by land instead.