ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday discussed Israel’s ceasefire violations in Lebanon with Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Iranian state media reported amid surging regional tensions.
The development takes place as Israeli military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, hitting two apartments in two buildings after saying it had intercepted projectiles launched by Hezbollah. A ceasefire that was supposed to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on April 17 but has never been fully respected, with each side accusing the other of violating the truce.
Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation on Sunday. Israel responded by saying it had carried out strikes against military targets in western and central Iran on Monday. Israel went ahead with the strikes even after US President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks. Trump, however, insisted that an agreement to end the wider war remained well within reach.
“The foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran spoke with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the Pakistani army chief, about the dangerous consequences of the ceasefire violation by the Zionist regime in Lebanon,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Sunday.
“FM Araghchi also held telephone talks with his British, Turkish and Qatari counterparts.”
The conversation between Araghchi and Munir took place as Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is in Tehran as part of Islamabad’s mediation efforts. Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Naqvi delivered a “written message” from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Pakistan has acted as a key mediator between the US and Iran since the former launched joint coordinated strikes with Israel against the latter. Islamabad has relayed messages and exchanged peace proposals between both sides in hopes of ending the war.
Islamabad also hosted the first round of direct peace talks between the US and Iran on April 11 which failed to achieve a breakthrough. Since then, Pakistan has remained in regular contact with the leaderships of both countries, while Naqvi and Munir have visited Iran in attempts to secure a peace deal.
