ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar briefed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Islamabad’s efforts to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran on Tuesday, as the UN chief began a three-day visit to Pakistan.

Guterres arrived in Islamabad earlier on Tuesday for an official visit through Oct. 8, during which he is due to meet Pakistan’s president, prime minister and military chief and hold discussions on regional and international developments.

The visit comes as Pakistan continues diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran after months of conflict that has disrupted energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

“DPM/FM highlighted Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation, including its facilitation of the Islamabad Talks between the US and Iran,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said after Dar met Guterres. “He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to dialogue and diplomacy as the most effective means of resolving disputes.”

The Foreign Office said Guterres appreciated Pakistan’s longstanding contribution to the United Nations as well as its diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue, mediation and de-escalation.

Pakistan hosted high-level US-Iran negotiations in Islamabad in April after the conflict erupted in late February. The talks ended without a final settlement but kept diplomatic contacts alive. Pakistan later helped mediate an interim agreement between the two sides in June aimed at halting hostilities and creating a pathway toward a broader settlement.

That agreement subsequently broke down as fighting resumed, but Pakistan has continued to press Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations. US and Iranian officials held further talks in New York in September focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving negotiations under the Pakistan-brokered framework.

The Strait remains closed, with Iran saying on Sunday it would not reopen the waterway until conditions contained in the June agreement were fulfilled.

Dar and Guterres also discussed Palestine, Afghanistan, counterterrorism, Kashmir and the future of multilateralism, according to the Foreign Office.

Dar briefed the UN chief on Pakistan’s positions on Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty and reiterated Islamabad’s call for the Kashmir dispute to be resolved in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, the ministry said.

During the Oct. 6-8 visit, Guterres will visit the headquarters of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan and attend a briefing at Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority on disaster preparedness and early-warning systems.

Guterres last visited Pakistan in 2022 following devastating monsoon floods.