‘Willing To Host US-Iran talks’: Pakistan

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has told Al Jazeera that Islamabad is ready to host talks between the US and Iran to seek a negotiated settlement to the conflict, if the warring parties wish.

“If the parties desire, Islamabad is always willing to host talks,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said. “It has consistently advocated for dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the region.”

Andrabi’s comment came a day after Trump put on hold, for five days, his threat to bomb Iranian power plants and claimed that the US and Iran were engaged in “very good” negotiations.

Iran has denied that it is engaged in any negotiations with the US, but multiple reports in US and Israeli media have suggested that a set of countries, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye , have worked as intermediaries in recent days, carrying messages between Tehran and Washington, seeking to broker an off-ramp. Some reports have suggested that negotiators from the US and Iran may meet in Islamabad in the coming days, though neither side has confirmed this meeting.

Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir spoke to Trump on Sunday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian a day later. This was followed by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar holding separate calls with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.

Source: Al Jazeera