Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the International Monetary Fund's decision to approve a $7 billion funding agreement for the country, his office said on Wednesday.

Islamabad had been working on implementing conditions that Sharif had previously called "strict" from the IMF to complete the 37-month loan programme agreed to in July, which the country hopes will be its last, Reuters reported.

The IMF said the new program will require "sound policies and reforms" to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges alongside "continued strong financial support from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners."

An immediate disbursement of about $1 billion will take place.

Sharif, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, told Pakistani media this week that Pakistan had fulfilled all of the lender's conditions, with help from China and Saudi Arabia.

"Without their support, this would not have been possible," he said, without elaborating on what assistance Beijing and Riyadh had provided to get the deal over the line.

Rollovers or disbursements of loans from Pakistan's long-time allies, in addition to financing from the IMF, have helped the country meet its external financing needs in the past.

The government had also vowed to increase its tax intake, in line with IMF requirements, despite protests in recent months by retailers and some opposition parties over the new tax scheme and high electricity rates.

Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust economic cycles for decades, leading to 22 IMF bailouts since 1958. Currently the country is the IMF's fifth-largest debtor, owing the Fund $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to the lender's data.

The latest economic crisis has been the most prolonged and has seen Pakistan facing its highest-ever inflation, pushing the country to the brink of a sovereign default last summer before an IMF bailout.

Inflation has since eased and credit ratings agency Moody's has upgraded Pakistan's local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to 'Caa2' from 'Caa3', citing improving macroeconomic conditions and moderately better government liquidity and external positions.

Iran has brokered ongoing secret talks between Russia and Yemen's Houthi rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to the militant group, three Western and regional sources said, a development that highlights Tehran's deepening ties to Moscow.

Seven sources told Reuters that Russia has yet to decide to transfer the Yakhont missiles – also known as P-800 Oniks - which experts said would allow the militant group to more accurately strike commercial vessels in the Red Sea and increase the threat to the U.S. and European warships defending them.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Russia was considering sending the missiles. Iran's role as an intermediary has not been previously reported.

The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial Red Sea shipping channels since November to show support for Palestinians in the Gaza war with Israel.

They have sunk at least two vessels and seized another, disrupting global maritime trade by forcing shipping firms to divert cargos and, according to industry sources, driven up insurance costs for ships plying the Red Sea.

In response, the United States and Britain have struck Houthi positions but have failed to stop the group's attacks.

Two regional officials aware of the talks said that the Houthis and Russians met in Tehran at least twice this year and that the talks to provide dozens of the missiles, which have a range of about 300 km, were ongoing with further Tehran meetings expected in coming weeks.

Russia has previously supplied the Yakhont missile to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

One of the sources said the talks started under Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

"Russia is negotiating with the Houthis for the transfer of Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missiles," said a Western intelligence source. "The Iranians are brokering the talks but do not want to have their signature over it."

Neither Iran's U.N. mission nor the Russian Defense Ministry responded to requests for comment.

"We have no knowledge of what you have mentioned," said Mohamed Abdel-Salam, the official spokesman for Yemen's Houthis.

A senior U.S. official declined to name the specific systems that could be transferred but confirmed that Russia has been discussing supplying missiles to the Houthis, calling the development "very worrisome."

A U.S. Defense Department official said any efforts to bolster the Houthis' capabilities would "undermine the shared international interest in global freedom of navigation and stability in the Red Sea and broader Middle East.”

Russia-Iran Links

Russia and Iran have been nurturing closer military ties amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Tehran has allegedly transferred ballistic missiles to Moscow for use against Ukraine, the United States said earlier this month.

One motivation for Moscow to arm the Houthis, three sources said, is the possibility that Western states could decide to allow Ukraine to use their weapons to strike farther into Russian territory.

The senior U.S. official said the Russia-Houthi talks “seem to be related to our posture in Ukraine and what we’re willing or not willing to do” regarding Kyiv’s requests for the lifting of restrictions on its use of long-range U.S.-supplied weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in June that Moscow could send advanced long-range weapons - similar to those the United States and its allies give Ukraine - to the West's adversaries around the world.

The Yakhont is considered one of the world's most advanced anti-ship missiles, designed to skim the sea's surface to avoid detection at more than twice the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has ordered all members to stop using any type of communication devices after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon blew up in deadly attacks last week, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters.

One of the security officials said a large-scale operation is underway by the IRGC to inspect all devices, not just communication equipment. He said most of these devices were either homemade or imported from China and Russia.

Iran was concerned about infiltration by Israeli agents, including Iranians on Israel's payroll and a thorough investigation of personnel has already begun, targeting mid and high-ranking members of the IRGC, added the official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"This includes scrutiny of their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history and that of their families," the security official said.

Iran's Foreign, Defence and Interior Ministries were not immediately available to respond to the comments made by the security officials to Reuters.

In a coordinated attack, the pager devices detonated on Tuesday across Hezbollah's strongholds. On Wednesday, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded. The attacks killed 39 people and injured more than 3,000 people.

Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel was behind the attacks. Israel has neither denied nor confirmed involvement, Reuters reported.

The security official declined to give details on how the IRGC force, comprising 190,000 personnel, are communicating. "For now, we are using end-to-end encryption in messaging systems," he said.

According to the same official, there is widespread concern among Iran's ruling establishment. IRGC officials have reached out to Hezbollah for technical assessments, and several examples of exploded devices have been sent to Tehran for examination by Iranian experts.

Another Iranian official said the Islamic Republic's main concern was the protection of the country's nuclear and missile facilities, particularly those underground, read the report.

"But since last year, security measures at those sites have increased significantly," he said in reference to stepped up measures after what Iranian authorities said was Israel's attempt to sabotage Iran's missile program in 2023. Israel has never commented on this.

"There has never, ever been such tight security and extreme measures in place as there are now," he added, suggesting that security has been significantly increased beyond previous levels after the pager explosions in Lebanon.

The IRGC is a powerful political, military and economic force in Iran with close ties to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the clerical ruling system, it has its own ground force, navy and air force that oversee Iran's strategic weapons.

It exerts influence in the Middle East through its overseas operations arm, the Al Quds Force, by providing money, weapons, technology and training to allied groups: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis and militias in Iraq.

Iran's military uses a range of encrypted communication devices, including walkie-talkies, for secure communication, said the first Iranian source. While specific models and brands might vary, Iranian military communications equipment was often developed domestically or sourced from a combination of local and foreign suppliers, he said.

He said Iran's armed forces have stopped using pagers for over two decades.

Tehran has developed its own military-grade radio transmissions through its defence industry to avoid reliance on foreign imports, especially due to Western sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program, he added.

However, in the past, Iran has imported communication devices from countries such as China and Russia and even Japan.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, with mutual allegations of sabotage and assassination plots, Reuters reported.

The conflict, including between Israel and Hezbollah, has intensified in the past year in parallel with the Gaza war, which erupted after the Palestinian Hamas group attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7.

Iran and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah's most senior military commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut a few hours earlier in July. Israel said it killed Shukr but it has not confirmed it was behind Haniyeh's death.

Iran does not recognise Israel's right to exist. Khamenei has previously called Israel a "cancerous tumour" that "will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed".

Israel believes that Iran poses an existential threat. It also accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, though Iran denies seeking to build a nuclear bomb.