{"id":125368,"date":"2026-05-06T12:13:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=125368"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:13:30","slug":"us-announces-phased-closure-of-peshawar-consulate-says-operations-will-shift-to-islamabad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/","title":{"rendered":"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Web desk(National Times)- The US State Department has announced the phased closure of its consulate in Peshawar, saying it would transfer operations to the embassy in Islamabad, it emerged on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cResponsibility for diplomatic engagement with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will transfer to the US Embassy in Islamabad.&nbsp; This decision reflects our commitment to the safety of our diplomatic personnel and efficient resource management,\u201d it said in a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/releases\/office-of-the-spokesperson\/2026\/05\/announcing-the-closure-of-the-u-s-consulate-general-in-peshawar\/\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While our physical presence in Peshawar is changing, the administration\u2019s policy priorities in Pakistan remain steadfast.&nbsp; We will continue to engage meaningfully with the people and officials of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to foster economic ties, promote regional security, and advance the interests of the American people,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe department, through the US Mission to Pakistan, remains dedicated to advancing the US-Pakistan relationship through our remaining diplomatic posts in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/independent\/status\/2031943020401119316?s=48&amp;t=3uu84_86hfRKwmRS2Qg8lw\"><em>The Independent<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;had reported about the consulate\u2019s closure in March. The report said the US State Department had notified Congress of its intent to close the consulate, saying that it would save $7.5 million per year without undermining the advancement of US national interests in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe move has been under consideration for more than a year since the Trump administration began downsizing nearly all federal agencies and is not related to the Iran war,\u201d&nbsp;<em>The Independent<\/em>&nbsp;said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The joint US-Israeli war against Iran,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1976377\"><u>launched<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;on Feb 28, had sparked protests in various cities in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March, the US Consulate in Karachi had suspended its operations temporarily after&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1977751\/terrorism-cases-registered-over-violence-near-us-consulate\"><u>11 people<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;were&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1976965\"><u>killed<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;when protesters breached the compound\u2019s outer wall after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1976870\">assassinated&nbsp;<\/a>in strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- The US State Department has announced the phased closure of its consulate in Peshawar, saying it would transfer operations to the embassy in Islamabad, it emerged on Wednesday. \u201cResponsibility for diplomatic engagement with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will transfer to the US Embassy in Islamabad.&nbsp; This decision reflects our commitment to the safety of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- The US State Department has announced the phased closure of its consulate in Peshawar, saying it would transfer operations to the embassy in Islamabad, it emerged on Wednesday. \u201cResponsibility for diplomatic engagement with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will transfer to the US Embassy in Islamabad.&nbsp; This decision reflects our commitment to the safety of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-06T07:13:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-06T07:13:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/\",\"name\":\"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-3.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-06T07:13:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-06T07:13:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-3.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125368\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US announces phased closure of Peshawar consulate, says operations will shift to Islamabad - Nation","og_description":"Web desk(National Times)- The US State Department has announced the phased closure of its consulate in Peshawar, saying it would transfer operations to the embassy in Islamabad, it emerged on Wednesday. \u201cResponsibility for diplomatic engagement with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will transfer to the US Embassy in Islamabad.&nbsp; 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