Saudi Arabia and Qatar are engaged in efforts to halt deadly fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP on Friday.

The diplomatic drive comes as fears of a spiraling conflict grew after Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan, declaring that they were in an "open war" with the Taliban.

The leading candidate to become Iraq's next prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, met with U.S. diplomat Tom Barrack on Friday after refusing to withdraw his nomination despite the U.S. threatening to stop supporting the country if he returns to the post.

Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, has recently visited Iraq multiple times to meet with senior officials.

Israel's top court on Friday moved to allow international aid groups to keep operating in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories as Israeli strikes killed at least five people across the war-torn enclave.

The Supreme Court's order, which followed a petition from 17 aid groups, effectively halted an earlier Israeli government decision that barred aid groups for refusing to comply with Israel's new rules.

American sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward the Palestinians, according to new Gallup polling, after decades of overwhelming support for the Israelis.

That shift accelerated during the war in Gaza. Three years ago, 54% of Americans sympathized more with the Israelis, compared to 31% for the Palestinians.

The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem announced on Friday it was allowing non-emergency government personnel and family members to leave Israel "due to safety risks," adding that people who wished to leave should do so while flights were still available.

"On February 27, 2026, the Department of State authorized the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of U.S. government personnel from Mission Israel due to safety risks," the embassy said on its website.

Iran said Friday that in order to reach a deal, the United States will have to drop its "excessive demands", tempering the optimism expressed after talks seen as a last-ditch bid to avert war.

The Oman-mediated talks follow repeated threats from President Donald Trump to strike Iran, and with the United States conducting its biggest military build-up in the region in decades.

Iran and the United States held hours of indirect negotiations Thursday over Tehran's nuclear program but walked away without a deal, leaving the danger of another Mideast war on the table as the U.S. has gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who mediated the talks in Geneva, said there had been "significant progress in the negotiation" without elaborating.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that the latest round of talks with the United States dealt with the nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions, adding that negotiators made "good progress".

"We made very good progress and entered into the elements of an agreement very seriously, both in the nuclear field and in the sanctions field," Araghchi told state TV after the talks in Geneva ended.

The International Monetary Fund says it is allowing Egypt to draw on about $2.3 billion from an earlier approved loan, noting that the country has made progress in restoring economic stability and reducing inflation as part of a reform program.

The IMF said in a statement Wednesday that the decision to release the funding followed reviews of the government reforms, which it credited with bringing about "a broad-based economic recovery" in the world's most populous Arab country. It noted that the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.4% from 2024 to 2025.

As U.S. forces mass in the Middle East, Iran faces the threat of major strikes by the world's most powerful military, potentially targeting its leaders, military, nuclear sites and critical infrastructure.

Iran has nowhere near the same capabilities, and is even more vulnerable after last year's war launched by Israel and recent anti-government protests. But it could still inflict pain on American forces and allies, and may feel it has to if the Islamic Republic's survival is at stake.