ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York on Thursday, the premier's office said, as the UN General Assembly became a focus for efforts to de-escalate the nearly seven-month US-Iran war.

The conflict began after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February and has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a passage used for roughly a fifth of global oil supplies. Pakistan has called for an end to the fighting and acted as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi joined Thursday’s meeting, while Sharif was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and foreign policy adviser Tariq Fatemi, according to the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office.

“The meeting will discuss Pakistan-Iran relations and the regional situation,” Sharif's office said in a statement.

Pakistan has stepped up its mediation efforts in recent months. Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran in August for talks with Iranian leaders focused on preventing further escalation, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and finding a negotiated end to the conflict.

The diplomatic role requires Islamabad to balance relations with neighboring Iran against close economic and defense ties with Saudi Arabia. That balance has come under pressure as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launch attacks toward the Kingdom and Pakistan reaffirms its defense commitments to Riyadh.

Pakistani officials have said their discussions in Tehran produced “significant progress,” although no final settlement followed. Islamabad has also urged Iran to use its influence over the Houthis as renewed fighting in Yemen and attacks on Saudi Arabia increase the risk of a wider regional confrontation.

Pezeshkian is attending the UN gathering as Iran seeks renewed diplomacy with Washington. A senior Iranian official told Reuters this week that Tehran had submitted a proposal to end hostilities through mediators and that its delegation in New York had authority to pursue negotiations, although no meeting with US President Donald Trump was planned.

Pakistan and Iran share a long border and maintain close political and commercial relations but ties have also been tested by militant violence and competing regional partnerships.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately announce an outcome from Thursday’s talks.