ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Washington and Tehran have “expressed their confidence” in Islamabad to help facilitate talks aimed at ending the ongoing United States-Israeli war on Iran.
The statement came after foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt met in Islamabad over the weekend to discuss ways to bring a permanent end to the US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks in the region.
Pakistan has served as a go-between for messages passed between Iranian and US officials since the beginning of the conflict, which has disrupted global energy and cargo supplies and threatened regional economies.
While Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington, Iran has passed a response to US President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan to end the war via Islamabad, Iranian Tasnim press agency reported this week, citing an anonymous source.
“Pakistan will be honored to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in coming days, for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict,” Dar said, adding that he also held a detailed telephonic conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“China fully supports Pakistan’s initiative to host Iran-US talks.”
He shared that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt expressed concerns that the ongoing conflict is extremely unfortunate for its devastating impact on lives and livelihood across the wider region.
“We agreed that this war is not in favor of anyone and would only lead to death and destruction,” the Pakistani foreign minister said. “The unity of Muslim Ummah in these challenging times is of utmost importance.”
Dar said he briefed the visiting foreign ministers on the prospects of potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad and the visiting dignitaries expressed their “full support” to the initiative.
“The foreign ministers reaffirmed unity to contain the situation, reduce the risk of military escalations and create conditions for structured negotiations between relevant parties,” he added.
