ISLAMABAD: Iran on Monday publicly reaffirmed that Pakistan remains the main intermediary in indirect contacts with the United States, dismissing reports that China has taken over a mediation role as diplomatic efforts continue to prevent a wider regional conflict.
The comments by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei come after several days of intensified regional diplomacy following US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel planned strikes against Iran and pursue renewed negotiations aimed at easing tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary in those efforts, with senior Pakistani officials holding repeated contacts with Iranian and Gulf leaders in recent days.
Iran has consistently acknowledged Pakistan’s role in conveying proposals and messages between Tehran and Washington during months of indirect diplomacy. Qatar and Oman have also played important roles in facilitating contacts, particularly on issues related to regional security and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies normally pass.
“The mediator in the discussions related to Iran and the US is Pakistan, and Qatar also helps in cases where necessary,” Baqaei said in response to reports suggesting China had begun mediating between Tehran and Washington over the Strait of Hormuz.
He said Iran maintained “very friendly relations” with China and close cooperation across a range of areas, adding that Beijing shared Tehran’s concerns about growing regional instability.
“China is also helping, like a number of other countries but to say that we have added a new mediator to the existing mediators is not, in the strict sense of the word, the case,” Baqaei added.
His remarks came a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi held a second round of telephone conversations in less than 24 hours with Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to discuss efforts to maintain regional security and stability, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Pakistan has played an increasingly prominent role in efforts to broker dialogue between Washington and Tehran since hosting the first direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad in April, the highest-level engagement between the two sides in years.
Those negotiations laid the groundwork for the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed in June, which established a framework for further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, regional security and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Under the Islamabad MoU, US and Iranian officials met again in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in June with Pakistan and Qatar serving as mediators. The two sides agreed to establish a High-Level Committee, launch technical working groups, create a direct communications channel to help prevent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and adopt a 60-day roadmap toward a broader agreement.
That diplomatic process came under renewed strain after fighting between the United States and Iran escalated again last month, raising concerns that the roadmap could collapse.
Trump said over the weekend he had canceled planned strikes against Iran and that negotiations would resume on Monday, although Tehran has disputed his characterization of recent events while saying it remains committed to pursuing political solutions through regional mediation.
“Iran is not currently holding talks with the United States and is now in discussions with Oman over a temporary safe route through the Strait of Hormuz,” Baqaei said in his televised press conference.
