ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has not asked Pakistan to play a mediatory role to defuse tensions with Iran, the Pakistan foreign office said on Friday, as Prime Minister Imran Khan leaves to visit Saudi Arabia and Iran today.

The announcement of Khan’s visit comes after the PM last month described a request by US President Donald Trump, asking the Pakistani leader to help defuse tensions with Iran.

The Pakistani foreign office rejected reports in foreign media that Saudi authorities, including the Saudi crown prince, had conveyed a letter to Khan to deliver to the Iranian leadership.

“These reports are without any basis as no such letter or message was conveyed, nor has Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to play any mediatory role with Iran,” the foreign office said.

“It may be noted that the initiative for possibility of dialogue between KSA and Iran, the two brotherly countries of Pakistan, is an effort by the Prime Minister of Pakistan for ensuring peace in the region,” the statement said.

Khan had said after a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month that he was “trying and mediating” and had also spoken with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.

Khan has ramped up his government’s engagement on the international stage, offering to negotiate regional tensions. He has separately proposed to Trump that Pakistan could help broker peace in neighboring Afghanistan.