Key Points: 

• In early January, Iranian military general Qasem Soleimani was assassinated by an American drone strike in Iraq. The killing of Soleimani has brought the relations between Iran and the United States to the lowest ebb in decades
•  Iran’s overt employment of its ballistic missiles against the United States demonstrates Iran’s intent to use its conventional weapons as a strategic and political tool against its adversaries in the region.
• Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal brought the footprints of eroding hegemony of America from Middle East. Assassination of Qasem Soleimani accelerated this in many ways.
• It is pragmatic for Pakistan to remain neutral in the current standoff between the United States and Iran. However, Islamabad should actively engage with regional and extra-regional countries to ease up the situation in the already chaotic Middle East region.