Iran has repeatedly denied that it is in talks with the US, but a spokesperson for the country's foreign minister has said that Washington sent a set of proposals "through certain intermediaries, including Pakistan". How did the country, which is in conflict with two of its neighbours - Afghanistan and India - position itself as a peace broker? Some of it has to do with its leadership's standing with US President Donald Trump, explains our Pakistan correspondent Caroline Davies. It also has deep cultural and religious ties with its Iranian neighbour and, unlike many Gulf states, has not yet been pulled into the war. But, she writes, the country's balancing act is not risk-free.

Until he was 15, Geumseong lived with his mother Eunhee in a North Korean village close to China. The pair risked everything to escape, and the last time Geumseong saw his mother was in June 2019. He now lives in Seoul - and after attempting to reunite with him, Eunhee is now in a Chinese prison. He fears that she might be sent back to North Korea.