Islamabad — With mounting fears of a broader regional conflict following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began in late February, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected mediatorHe offered to help bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table.
Islamabad is not often called upon to act as a mediator in high-stakes diplomacy, but it stepped into that role this time for a number of reasons, both because it has relatively good relations with both Washington and Tehran and because it has a lot at stake in its vision. War Solve it.
Pakistani government officials said their public peace efforts come after weeks of quiet diplomacy, though they provided few details. They also said that Islamabad is ready to host talks between representatives from the United States and Iran.
Here’s what you should know about Pakistani mediation efforts:
Pakistan’s role in the Iranian-American negotiations emerged only a few days ago after media reports. Officials in Islamabad later admitted this American proposal He was transferred to Iran.
It remains unclear who served as the point of contact with Iran in the indirect talks. Iran confirmed that it did not hold such talks He rejected the American proposalBut Tehran admitted to responding with its own proposals.
According to Pakistani officials, US messages are passed to Iran and Iranian responses are relayed to Washington, although they did not specify how the operation was handled or who was communicating directly with whom. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said this week that Türkiye and Egypt are also working behind the scenes to bring the parties to the negotiating table.
Abdullah Khan, managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, said Pakistani mediation efforts may contribute to relative restraint in the conflict. He pointed out that US President Donald Trump delayed his threats to launch large-scale attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, citing diplomatic progress, and Iranian responses to US interests in the Gulf have been measured in what may be an attempt to maintain space for diplomacy.
Previous negotiations between the United States and Iran have been mainly facilitated by countries in the Middle East, including… Oman and QatarBut as they came under Iranian fire during the war, Pakistan stepped into this role.
Analysts say that Pakistan’s geographical proximity to Iran – it is one of its neighbors – along with its long relations with the United States, gives it a unique position at a time when direct contact between the two sides is still restricted.
Islamabad has good working relations with most of the major parties in the war, including the United States and Iran. It enjoys close strategic relations with the Gulf states, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with which it signed a defense cooperation agreement last year. However, Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel due to the pending issue of Palestinian statehood.
Relations between the United States and Pakistan have improved since last year, with increased diplomatic engagement and expanded economic ties. Pakistan has also joined Trump’s peace council, which aims to ensure peace in Gaza, despite opposition from Islamists at home.
Over the weekend, Trump spoke with Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, whom the US president has publicly described as his “favorite Field Marshal.” Analysts say he is a player with good relations with the Iranian and American militaries.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the conflict poses some of the “biggest economic and energy security challenges” in Pakistan’s history.
The country gets most of its oil and gas needs from the Middle East. He said that the five million Pakistanis working in the Arab world send remittances to their homeland every year that are almost equivalent to the country’s total export earnings.
The escalating tensions have already contributed to a rise in global oil prices, forcing Pakistan to increase fuel prices by about 20% and putting pressure on the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The war is also adding to internal unrest, even as Pakistan has been grappling for months Its own conflict with neighboring Afghanistan. Islamabad has accused the country’s Taliban government of tolerating the militant groups behind the attacks in Pakistan.
Earlier this month, Protests broke out across the country After the US strikes on Iran, with demonstrators clashing with security forces in several cities.
A day after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, clashes broke out in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi and in parts of the north, killing at least 22 people and wounding more than 120 others across the country.
At least 12 people were killed in and around the US Consulate in Karachi after a mob stormed the compound and attempted to set it on fire.
Khamenei was a central religious and political figure for Shiites around the world, including in Pakistan.
While Pakistan rarely acts as a mediator, its track record includes playing a role in some high-level talks.
Then-Pakistani President General Yahya Khan facilitated back-channel communications that led to the historic visit of US President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. This paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing in 1979.
Since then, Pakistan has played a role in several other complex regional conflicts, most notably during the 1988 Geneva Accords that paved the way for the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a frontline state and a key interlocutor, Islamabad participated in UN-brokered negotiations while working closely with the United States and other stakeholders and helping to increase pressure on Moscow to withdraw its forces.
More recently, Pakistan facilitated contacts between the Afghan Taliban and Washington that led to talks in Doha that culminated in a 2020 agreement and paved the way for the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces and the return of the Taliban to power in 2021.
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Castillo reported from Beijing.