LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza have been accused of breaching security protocols at a team hotel in Lahore on the eve of a Pakistan Super League cricket game.
In a letter to the Pakistan Cricket Board, Punjab police said the two Lahore Qalandars players disregarded directives and “forcefully escorted four visitors” to Raza’s room, “despite resistance from on-duty security personnel” on Saturday night.
Raza, who was born in Pakistan, said Sunday he had always met with family members and friends in the team hotel during the last four editions of the PSL and that he wasn’t aware of the security protocols for this season which bar players from such meetings in the hotel.
“One thing should be remembered that by birth I am a Pakistani and (a) few family members will come to meet me,” Raza said. “The (previous) protocols were that I can’t go out of hotel, but I can meet my family members, close cousins and friends in the hotel."
Afridi is leading defending champion Lahore in the rescheduled PSL, which started Thursday in Lahore with fans barred from attending Pakistan’s premier domestic T20 tournament after fuel prices soared in the country due to Middle East conflict.
The police letter said Lahore's liaison officer had asked a PCB official for permission to allow the four visitors. That was declined “in accordance with the security protocols in place,” the letter said. Later, according to the letter, PCB chief executive officer Salman Naseer also declined the same request made by Sameen Rana, team owner of the Lahore franchise.
Afridi and Raza allegedly disregarded the directives and escorted the visitors to Raza’s room on the eighth floor of the hotel “despite resistance from the on-duty security personnel.” They remained in Raza’s room until 1:25 a.m. before leaving.
Police asked the PCB to review the incident.
“Ensuring strict compliance with security protocols is essential to avoid any untoward and potentially harmful situations,” the letter said.
Raza said he would be respecting security protocols.
“The four friends, who came yesterday, I know them personally for a long time, so it was nice to see them. I wasn’t aware of this (the security protocols),” said Raza.
Raza said he took his friends to his room in order to choose the cricket bats which they had brought with them.
Lahore lost to Karachi Kings by four wickets with three balls remaining on Sunday. Afridi took four wickets for 18 runs in his four overs.
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Lahore Qalandars' Sikandar Raza, second right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Hyderabad Kingsmen Marnus Labuschagne during the opening cricket match of the Pakistan Super League between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen, which taking place without spectators, in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Lahore Qalandars' Shaheen Shah Afridi appeals unsuccessful LBW out of Hyderabad Kingsmen Saim Ayub during the opening cricket match of the Pakistan Super League between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen, which taking place without spectators, in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan announced Sunday that it will soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran, though there was no immediate word from Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether discussions on the monthlong war would be direct or indirect.
"Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the U.S. have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks. Pakistan will be honored to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the coming days,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said after top diplomats from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia met in Islamabad.
Pakistan later said the diplomats had departed for their home countries. The talks were originally scheduled to continue Monday.
Pakistan's foreign ministry did not answer questions. Islamabad has emerged as a mediator, having relatively good ties with Washington and Tehran, after what Pakistani officials call weeks of quiet diplomacy.
Earlier, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover after some 2,500 U.S. Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East. He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.
Meanwhile in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military will widen its invasion of Lebanon, expanding the “existing security strip” in that country’s south while targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. No details were released.
Over 1 million Lebanese have been displaced in the war. One of them, Mohammad Doghman, called Israel “an expansionist state.”
The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices. Now the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels ' entry into the war could threaten shipping on another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea.
“We don’t know at what moment our homes could be targeted,” said Razzak Saghir al-Mousawi, 71, describing relentless airstrikes as Iranians crossing into Iraq urged the United States to end the war. “I am definitely afraid.”
Witnesses reported more strikes Sunday night in Tehran, and state media cited Iran’s energy ministry as saying power was cut in Tehran and Alborz provinces after attacks on electricity facilities. The Israeli military said it was striking Tehran and that Iran had launched more missiles.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian attacks against Israel and U.S. military assets and other sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states. The war continues on the digital front as well.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the meetings in Pakistan are aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the U.S. and Iran, which have largely communicated through mediators. The war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes during indirect talks. Pakistan said the foreign ministers met Sunday without U.S. or Israeli participation.
Iranian officials have rejected a U.S. 15-point “action list” as a framework for a possible peace deal and publicly dismissed the idea of negotiating under pressure. But Iran’s state broadcaster has reported that Tehran drafted its own five-point proposal reportedly calling for a halt to killing Iranian officials, guarantees against future attacks, reparations and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran has eased some restrictions on commercial ships in the strait, agreeing late Saturday to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through. It "sends a clear signal that Iran remains open for business with the world, provided the United States abandons coercion,” said Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Iran.
An adviser to the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, called for any settlement to the war to include “clear guarantees” that Iranian attacks on neighbors will not be repeated. He said Iran's government has become “the main threat” to Persian Gulf security, and called for compensation for attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Iran warned of escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, including ones that Israel claimed were used for nuclear research and development. Concerns over Iran's nuclear program are at the heart of tensions.
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Iran would consider Israeli universities and branches of U.S. universities in the region “legitimate targets” unless offered safety assurances for Iranian universities, state media reported.
“If the U.S. government wants its universities in the region spared, it should condemn the bombardment” of Iranian universities by midday Monday, the Guard said.
U.S. colleges have campuses in Qatar and the UAE, including Georgetown, New York and Northwestern universities. The American University of Beirut moved classes online and called it a precautionary measure.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has said dozens of universities and research centers have been hit, including the Iran University of Science and Technology and Isfahan University of Technology.
Both sides in the war have threatened to attack civilian facilities, which critics have warned could be a war crime.
In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed. There were fears of more deaths after Netanyahu, speaking on a visit to northern Israel, announced the expanded invasion. Hezbollah “still has residual capability to fire rockets at us," he said.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.
In Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in the occupied West Bank.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed in the war.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Samya Kullab in Basra, Iraq, and Ali Sharafeddine in Beirut contributed to this report.
Displaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit inside tents used as shelters as a rainbow breaks through the rain in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Residents gather near a public bomb shelter after receiving a message alerting about an incoming missile launched from Iran, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Members of the Basij paramilitary force stand at a checkpoint in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Women sit in front of a mosque around the traditional grand bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
This image from video provided by U.S. Central Command shows U.S. Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) arriving in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 27, 2026. (U.S. Central Command via AP)
Members of the Basij paramilitary force stand at a checkpoint in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Carrying her belongings a woman crosses the Shalamcheh border crossing between Iran and Iraq, near Basra, Iraq, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
People who arrived from Iran cross the Shalamcheh border crossing between Iran and Iraq, near Basra, Iraq, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Mourners chant slogans as they carry the coffins of Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib, Al-Mayadeen TV reporter Fatima Ftouni and cameraman Ali Ftouni, who were killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, during their funeral procession at a temporary cemetery in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this photo, released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from left, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attend a meeting to discuss Middle East war, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
In this photo, released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, left, shakes hand with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from left, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan walk prior to their meeting to discuss the Middle East war, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
A Croatian naval vessel sails by as USS Gerald R. Ford arrives to the port of Split, Croatia, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Dubravec)
Residents inspect their home after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Eshtaol, central Israel, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, center, walks toward his car upon arrival to attend a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, meets with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, left, shakes hands with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
The mother of Jawad Younes,11, who was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike, mourns over his body during a funeral procession in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Residents carry personal belongings as they leave a building damaged in a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Abed Driss, displaced with his family from Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, holds up his son Benin, 3 months, next to a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
A first responder assists an injured boy following a strike that hit a residential building amid the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sajad Safari)
