ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it was maintaining open communication channels with the United States and Iran as part of ongoing efforts to sustain peace talks, with its army chief set to meet senior Iranian officials in Tehran with an aim to ease tensions in the region and pave the way for further negotiations with the US.
The diplomatic push comes after weeks of war in Iran before a temporary truce was announced and Pakistan hosted rare direct talks between US and Iranian officials in Islamabad, positioning itself as a key intermediary between the two sides.
“Pakistan has maintained open channels of communication with the concerned parties as part of our facilitative and mediatory role,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during his weekly news briefing.
He said Pakistan’s leadership remained engaged at multiple levels, including the ongoing three-nation visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the region and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir’s trip to Iran, reflecting a continued push for dialogue and de-escalation.
Andrabi said the Islamabad talks between US and Iranian delegations over the weekend were prolonged and intensive, highlighting the complexity of the negotiations.
“The talks continued for 21 hours, that is the duration of actual negotiation,” he said. “Overall, the process continued for well above 30 hours, if you count the movement of the delegations and the momentary breaks for meals and coffees and so on.
So as such, the entire negotiation process was intensive and extensive, both in terms of scope and timelines.”
According to the Associated Press, Pakistan’s army chief is expected to meet Iranian officials in Tehran during the day to discuss recent developments and explore the possibility of arranging a second round of US-Iran talks.
The White House has indicated that any future negotiations with Iran could again take place in Islamabad, though no final decision has been announced.
Pakistan has stepped up its diplomatic outreach in recent weeks, holding extensive engagements with global leaders and positioning itself as a facilitator for dialogue amid a broader push to reduce regional tensions.
