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Pakistan ‘cautiously optimistic’ on US-Iran mediationPakistan
Pakistan’s army says it is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about mediation between the US and Iran, after the army chief visited Tehran twice this month.
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Pakistan’s military has said it is “cautiously optimistic” that mediation between the United States and Iran can revive a ceasefire, pointing to the army chief’s two visits to Tehran this month as a sign that diplomacy still has room to work.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s spokesman, told the Reuters news agency that there were positive signs in the efforts to de-escalate the conflict. He was speaking in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan’s armed forces are headquartered, in his first comments since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week.
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Field Marshal Asim Munir, the army chief, has travelled to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday, alongside Saudi and Turkish officials. Asked whether the trips were a positive sign, Chaudhry replied: “Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course.”
He added that Pakistan would describe its position with the words “cautiously optimistic”, but he declined to say what was discussed in Tehran or whether the United States had backed the trip.
Chaudhry also warned that there were parties working against the mediation. There are still “powerful spoilers and detractors” who believe conflict serves them, he said, without naming them.
The mediation effort comes as Qatari mediators have also arrived in Tehran in another attempt to negotiate a revival of the ceasefire agreed in June, which collapsed months later. The fighting between the United States and Iran has raised fears across the region of a wider war.
Defence pact and regional security
Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin joined Munir in Tehran on Monday. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed a joint defence pact on August 7, under which an attack on any signatory is treated as an attack on all.
After Monday’s talks, Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said regional security should be ensured by regional countries without foreign intervention.
Asked whether Iran could join the defence pact, Chaudhry said its wording did not bar new members. “Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome,” he said, adding that it would be for the political leadership of the three principal parties to decide.
On whether more Pakistani troops would be sent to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, he said that would depend on the situation and on the decision of both countries’ political leadership. He said Pakistan was committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah, and added: “We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict.”
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has reignited since the Iran conflict began, adding to concerns that the confrontation could spread further across the Middle East.
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