Goods transporters and oil tanker operators began suspending their services on Friday night after negotiations with the Pakistani government failed, ahead of their nationwide wheel-jam strike scheduled for Saturday.

All Pakistan Goods Transport Itehad spokesman and All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association President Mohammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate told Dawn that talks with Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and other government officials had failed.

He said the negotiations ended without a breakthrough, prompting transporters, including edible oil tanker operators, petroleum oil tanker operators, truckers, trailer operators and other intercity transporters, to proceed with their previously announced strike.

“We have informed the government side about the problems we are facing and our concerns,” Chaudhry said, adding that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted.

However, the minister has assured the transporters that he would discuss their demands, and the next round of talks would be held on Monday morning.

The unified body of transporters had already announced that it would begin its wheel-jam strike from August 8, and warned that it would not be a token strike but an indefinite one.

“Commercial goods carriers across the country have already been taken off the roads and will remain stationed at designated places during the protest period,” Chaudhry said.

Among the key demands of the transporters is the uniform enforcement of axle-load limits across the country and permission for 10-wheel vehicles to carry up to 35 tonnes.

They have also demanded reductions in diesel prices and toll taxes, besides seeking relief in withholding tax to ease the financial burden on the transport sector.

The transporters have also called for the withdrawal of customs provisions that, according to the association, allow authorities to confiscate vehicles carrying goods found to be in violation of customs laws.

Other demands include the withdrawal of the Punjab Highway Patrol’s powers to issue challans to commercial vehicles, an end to what the association described as unnecessary challans and excessive fines on motorways and highways, and measures to facilitate the issuance of heavy transport vehicle licences to drivers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called on neighbouring countries to strengthen regional cooperation and rely more on their own capabilities, saying Iran’s armed forces have demonstrated their ability to confront a powerful military.

Araghchi made the remarks in a post on X, where he praised the readiness and capabilities of Iran’s armed forces.

“Iran’s powerful armed forces have shown their readiness, capability and might in the face of the world’s most expensive military,” Araghchi wrote.

The Iranian foreign minister also called for greater unity among Muslim countries, saying that collective action could help the region confront external challenges.

“When Muslims stand together, we can face every challenge by malicious outsiders head-on,” he said, concluding with a call to “rely only on ourselves and embrace true brotherhood.”

Araghchi’s remarks come amid heightened regional tensions and months of conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Tehran has repeatedly called for stronger regional cooperation while warning against foreign military intervention in the region.

Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the ​region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington’s closest regional allies, Reuters reported.

The warning was delivered through a flurry of ‌high-level diplomatic contacts after President Donald Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure, the sources said.

Two senior Iranian officials, two Gulf sources and a senior regional diplomat with knowledge of the discussions said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his Saudi, Turkish and Qatari counterparts, as well as Pakistan’s army chief. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Araqchi urged Washington’s Gulf allies to use their influence ​with Trump to dissuade him from launching renewed strikes, the senior diplomat said, warning that any attack on Iran would prompt retaliation against U.S. assets and energy facilities across the ​Gulf.

His message was consistent in every conversation, the diplomat said: “We’re ready to retaliate, but finding a diplomatic solution is the best way to avoid wider ⁠escalation and destruction across the region.”

“The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if America targeted Iran’s infrastructure, they would retaliate by striking Gulf energy facilities and other regional targets,” one Gulf source said.

The diplomatic ​maneuvering underscores how Iran is attempting to use the threat of wider regional destruction as leverage against further U.S. strikes, putting Gulf states that host U.S. military bases and depend on energy exports in ​a difficult position between Washington and Tehran.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman subsequently spoke with Trump, urging him to delay military action, return to negotiations, secure a ceasefire and pursue a diplomatic settlement, the senior diplomat and Gulf sources said.

The warning was intended for every Gulf state, another Gulf source said, but was conveyed primarily through Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Iran has in recent years repaired ties with its Gulf neighbours, including former regional rival Saudi ​Arabia.

Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia have all urged Washington to resume talks with Tehran and avert renewed conflict amid Iranian warnings that another round of U.S. strikes could “turn the region into a fireball”, ​the second Iranian official said.

On August 2, Trump said he agreed to cancel the attack on Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a deal”.

“Saudi Arabia believes further escalation will only ‌bring more destruction,” ⁠the first Gulf source said. “That is why it urged Trump to give diplomacy a chance.”

While urging Washington to pursue diplomacy, Riyadh also made clear it would defend itself if threatened. The second Gulf source said Saudi Arabia warned that any attack on its territory would be met with a military response.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the Royal Court, said the kingdom’s assessment is that further escalation is unlikely to achieve the desired result. “The Kingdom believes a combination of proportionate military responses and sustained pressure on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz offers the strongest path toward a practical diplomatic ​settlement,” Shihabi said.

Iran’s clerical leadership has repeatedly demanded ​the closure of U.S. military bases in the ⁠Gulf and called on Gulf Arab states to stop sharing intelligence with Washington, which Tehran believes has been used to facilitate attacks against it.

According to one Iranian official, Tehran’s warning made clear that any new U.S. strike would be met with attacks on energy facilities, refineries, electricity grids, water infrastructure, ​transport networks and oil fields across the Gulf.

“The enemy continues to threaten Iranian infrastructure. If Iran suffers damage, it will inflict far greater ​damage in return,” the official ⁠said.

“They still remember Saudi Arabia’s Aramco,” he added, referring to the September 2019 drone and missile attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities that temporarily knocked out more than half the kingdom’s crude oil production and exposed the vulnerability of Gulf energy infrastructure.

By threatening infrastructure critical to Gulf economies, Tehran is seeking to convince both Washington and its Arab partners that another attack on Iran would carry unacceptable economic and strategic consequences, ⁠encouraging regional ​states to press Trump to avoid renewed military action.

From Tehran’s perspective, Trump now faces two unpalatable choices, the senior Iranian ​official said: escalate a conflict that could engulf the Gulf and disrupt global energy supplies, or accept a negotiated outcome that falls short of the decisive victory Washington seeks.

One of the principal obstacles to an agreement, the senior regional diplomat said, ​is Washington’s reluctance to allow Tehran to emerge claiming victory.

“The United States wants something it can present as proof that it won the war,” the diplomat said.