Iran warns US ground troops would be ‘set on fire’ as regional diplomats meet on the war 

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, in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday [AP Photo]

A top Iranian official warned the U.S. against a ground invasion, saying its troops would be set “on fire,” as regional diplomats met yesterday in Pakistan in hopes of opening direct U.S.-Iran talks and ending the monthlong war.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, 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 Iranian state media. He also dismissed the talks as a cover after some 2,500 U.S. Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East.

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, and 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.”

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 on Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. Meanwhile, Israel has invaded Lebanon while targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. The war continues on the digital front as well.

Pakistan hosts ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt

Pakistan said the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt met in Islamabad without U.S. or Israeli participation, days after the U.S. offered Iran a 15-point “action list” as a framework for a possible peace deal. The ministers are expected to meet again Monday.

Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty said the meetings are aimed at opening a “direct dialogue” between the U.S. and Iran, which have largely communicated through mediators. Both this war and last year’s 12-day war began during rounds of indirect talks.

Iranian officials have rejected the U.S. framework and publicly dismissed the idea of negotiating under pressure. But Press TV, the English-language arm of Iran’s state broadcaster, reported last week that Tehran had drafted its own five-point proposal that reportedly called 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.

Gargash said Iran’s government has become “the main threat” to Persian Gulf security and called for compensation for attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Iran threatens retaliatory strikes on Israeli and US universities

Iran on Sunday 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 warned that 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.

U.S. colleges have campuses in Qatar and the UAE, including Georgetown, New York and Northwestern universities.

“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 in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday that dozens of universities and research centers have been hit, among them 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.

Death toll continues to climb

Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,100 people have been killed.

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. MUNIR AHMED, SAM METZ & SAMY MAGDY, ISLAMABAD, MDT/AP