23 Dead in Pakistan as Iran War Spreads Beyond the Gulf

Image: 23 Dead in Pakistan as Iran War Spreads Beyond the Gulf

Protesters storm US Consulate in Karachi. Security guards open fire. Crowds rage across three continents. Then Trump says: "I have agreed to talk."

Pakistan is burning. Overnight in Karachi - a city of 16 million - hundreds of protesters breached the outer wall of the US Consulate. Security guards fired into the crowd. At least 10 people died on that street alone. Across Pakistan, the death toll from pro-Iran unrest has hit 23.

The war that started 48 hours ago with American and Israeli bombs over Tehran has now killed people in South Asia. That is the measure of where this is going.

In Skardu, a city in northern Pakistan near the Kashmir line, 11 more died in clashes. Dozens of wounded are spread across hospitals in both cities. Pakistani security forces used batons and tear gas. It wasn't enough. Protesters broke through anyway.

Baghdad, Beirut, Beyond

Pakistan was not alone. Outside the US Embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone, thousands massed Sunday afternoon. Iraq's Shia militias - many with direct ties to Tehran - are making no secret of their intentions. Protests also broke out in Beirut, where Hezbollah's political wing called for "days of rage." In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, thousands marched in Jakarta.

In Islamabad, Shia Muslim demonstrators carried portraits of Khamenei past police lines. The Pakistani government has not declared a state of emergency but security forces have been placed on heightened alert across major cities.

The War Is Still Going

Inside Iran, the conflict has not slowed. Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes Sunday targeting military infrastructure across the country. US forces, operating from carriers in the Arabian Sea, destroyed what the Pentagon called "the headquarters of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." Iranian state media reported strikes hitting a hospital in Tehran - a claim the US has denied.

Iran has vowed revenge. Iranian forces traded strikes with Israel through Sunday evening. The IRGC, battered but not gone, still has missiles. Whether the surviving Iranian command structure has the will or coordination to launch a large-scale response remains the open question.

Trump Signals a Way Out

Then came the twist. In an interview published Sunday afternoon by The Atlantic, President Trump said Iran's surviving political leadership wants to negotiate. "I have agreed to talk," Trump said, without naming who had reached out or through which channel.

The Guardian confirmed separately that Trump told reporters Iran's new leadership had agreed to talks. The New York Times noted that Trump did not specify who he was referring to - the clerical succession in Tehran is still unsettled after Khamenei's death.

What that means in practice is unclear. Iran formally announced 40 days of mourning for Khamenei. Hardliners are calling for retaliation. But whoever emerges from Tehran's succession crisis to hold power has apparently concluded that striking a deal with Washington is preferable to more American bombs.

The Nuclear Question

The strike that killed Khamenei and wiped out several senior IRGC commanders also hit key sites linked to Iran's nuclear program. The extent of that damage is not yet confirmed. IAEA inspectors have been denied access. If Iran's nuclear capability was significantly degraded, the calculus on both sides changes. If it wasn't, talks get harder.

NPR reported earlier that Trump warned Iran not to retaliate - a warning that was already being tested by the time it was issued, given the ongoing strikes.

What Comes Next

The next 48 hours are the hinge. If Iran's surviving leadership steps forward to engage Trump's overture, the guns may go quiet. If the IRGC hardliners seize control of Iran's succession - or if another attack kills the wrong person - this gets much larger.

Pakistan is a nuclear state. It is not a party to this war. But 23 of its citizens are dead because of it. That fact does not go away at the negotiating table.