Pakistan and Italy are formalizing a bilateral mechanism to combat antiquities trafficking, with the Federal Investigation Agency and Italy's Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) set to establish a dedicated liaison desk in Rome. A formal MoU is expected to be signed in Islamabad next month, codifying intelligence sharing, forensic training, and real-time access to Leonardo, the Carabinieri's database of over three million recovered stolen artifacts. The framework follows Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi and FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar's Rome visit in February, where the two sides agreed in principle to the arrangement. The urgency is driven by measurable escalation: FIA reported seizures of smuggled Gandharan and Buddhist artifacts worth over $3.2 million in 2025 alone, and in February the agency dismantled a ring in Taxila attempting to move 2nd-century statues to Europe via Dubai. Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab have seen a sharp uptick in thefts feeding these networks. Under the structure, FIA officers will train at the Carabinieri academy in Rome, with the first cohort scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. The TPC, a 300-strong unit regarded as the world's leading cultural-property police force, has recovered more than three million artifacts since 1969. Pakistan's institutional access to TPC forensic tools and operational databases marks a concrete upgrade in enforcement capability against transnational cultural-property crime.
Iran has attacked Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US strikes, drawing two key Gulf US allies into the conflict. The escalation puts a reported US-Iran deal under serious strain and raises energy supply risk in a major oil-producing region.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned that oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation risk being stopped, even as one tanker proceeded through the waterway. The threat could push up war-risk insurance premiums and crude prices, with major importers like India directly exposed.
Iran and the US traded fresh strikes over the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran hitting US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait and Washington striking Iranian sites near Sirik. The exchanges threaten to collapse a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire signed June 18, with global oil markets exposed to renewed Hormuz disruption.
Iran's IRGC struck US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday for a third straight day, while Trump threatened Iran would "no longer exist" if the US resumes full war.
