Pakistan Steps Up Mediation as US–Iran Talks Poised To Resume in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir stepped up their efforts to bring Tehran and Washington back on the negotiating table with Pakistani leaders optimistic that the next round peace talks in Islamabad would produce positive results.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday alongside a high-level delegation on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, said a press statement issued by PM officed

Earlier in the day, the Foreign Office said the prime minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, would be undertaking official visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye from April 15 to 18.

In a post on X, the PMO said the premier was received by the Deputy Governor of the Makkah Region, Prince Saud bin Mushaal bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Farooq.

Meanwhile Field Marshal Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, COAS & CDF and Mr Mohsin Naqvi, Interior Minister along with the delegation arrives at Tehran as part of the ongoing mediation efforts, military media wing announced in a statement.

The statement came hours after Iran said that exchanges with the United States via Pakistan had continued following negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend that yielded no result.

“Since Sunday, when the Iranian delegation returned to Tehran, several messages have been exchanged through Pakistan,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

“Today, we are very likely to receive a Pakistani delegation as a continuation of the discussions in Islamabad,” he added.

Baqaei asserted that Tehran’s right to enrich uranium was “indisputable” although the level of enrichment is “negotiable”.

The Iranian official said the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy could not be “taken away under pressure or through war”.

It is expected that by the end of this week the delegations from Tehran and Washington would again assemble in Islamabad for a decisive round of talks.

Since the ceasefire was announced both Washington and Tehran have been making threatening statements and military moves and counter moves. However neither side have denied that they are willing to come to the negotiating table again.

According to Reuters, a source involved in the talks said a date was not yet decided, but both countries could return as early as the end of this week. They said that a proposal has been shared with both the US and Iran to resend their delegates to resume the talks.

In the last round of talks Iran has put forward the proposal for capping its uranium enrichment prorgam for five years. Where US has demanded that it should be capped for at least 20 years.

“No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source said.

American President Trump has ordered the blockade of Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered a Chinese diplomatic response. Chinese foreign ministry has said that the strait should be kept open. Now world leaders from across the world have demanded Tehran and Washington to resume talks.