ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Islamabad is committed to its role as an “honest and sincere” facilitator of peace, as Pakistan gears up to host a senior US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance for negotiations on Iran that is expected to arrive in Islamabad today, Monday.
Sharif spoke to Pezeshkian on Sunday night after President Donald Trump confirmed US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran. The White House separately confirmed that Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be part of the US delegation that hold talks on Iran in Pakistan on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Iran’s official state news agency IRNA said Tehran would abstain from the second round of talks due to Washington’s “excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, repeated contradictions,” and the ongoing US naval blockade.
Sharif said he spoke to Pezeshkian over the regional situation and apprised him of his interactions with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Qatar last week.
“I assured him that, with the support of friends and partners, Pakistan remains fully committed to its role as an honest and sincere facilitator of lasting peace and regional stability,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X on Sunday.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran surged again on Sunday after Iran’s top joint military command, the Khatam Al-Anbiya, accused the US of violating a ceasefire by firing at one of Iran’s commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman.
Trump had earlier announced that a US destroyer ship fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as it tried to evade a US naval blockade.
The incident takes place as tensions remain high in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, which has been virtually closed since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran seven weeks ago.
Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports.
