Your Evening Briefing: Pakistan Strikes Iran as Middle East Tensions Flare

Pakistan’s military carried out targeted strikes against militant hideouts in Iran on Thursday, responding to an attack by Tehran a day earlier. Even as officials on both sides strove to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, the tit-for-tat response is the most significant escalation between the two neighbors, which have had their conflicts in the past. The strikes are the latest sign of rising turmoil in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war. The US and UK struck Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen for a fifth time in a week after the Houthis attacked another commercial boat Wednesday, and President Joe Biden vowed the strikes would continue. The Houthis have argued their assault on commercial boats in the Red Sea is in response to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. For global shippers though, the back-and-forth has only wrought more chaos, forcing carriers to spend more to go the long way around Africa to deliver goods. Meanwhile Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Thursday that for him a two-state solution with Palestinians is off the table—something US diplomats have been pushing for since the outbreak of the war.

The Senate passed a temporary spending bill to avert a partial US government shutdown this weekend. The House is expected to pass the measure next as Democrats are prepared to supply the votes needed over the objections of some conservative Republicans. The deal keeps the government funded through the beginning of March. Speaker Mike Johnson has been under pressure from far-right Republicans for aligning with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Johnson has said he’d keep the budget deal and instead has held up emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel.