ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Pakistan from Tuesday for meetings on regional and international developments, the Foreign Office said, with US–Iran mediation among the subjects of discussion, according to state media.

The conflict began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran and has disrupted energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil and gas trade. Ceasefires agreed in April and June failed to end the fighting.

Pakistan and Qatar helped mediate a June agreement intended to halt hostilities and restore maritime traffic but fighting resumed in July. Guterres has backed Pakistan’s mediation and urged renewed dialogue, while US and Iranian officials separately engaged with mediators in late September.

“The visit of the UN Secretary-General will offer an important opportunity to reiterate Pakistan’s longstanding cooperation with the United Nations, and to exchange views on regional and international developments,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in its statement on Monday.

State-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that discussions would include Pakistan’s role in supporting negotiations between Washington and Tehran. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric credited Islamabad with “using its diplomacy and mediation to bring parties together when dialogue is most needed,” APP reported on Monday.

Guterres’s office has said he remains in close contact with Pakistani leaders to support efforts to end the conflict. Islamabad continues to promote the June agreement as a framework for further negotiations despite its breakdown.

The Foreign Office said Guterres would meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir, the chief of defense forces and army chief, during his trip

He will also visit the headquarters of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, which monitors the ceasefire along the Line of Control dividing disputed Kashmir between the two countries.

Guterres will attend a briefing at Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, with the visit highlighting the country’s disaster preparedness and early warning systems.

The UN chief last visited Pakistan in 2022 following devastating monsoon floods.