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Shehbaz Urges Iran-US Calm in Pezeshkian MeetingPakistan
PM Shehbaz Sharif met Iran’s President Pezeshkian in Antalya, urging restraint and dialogue and offering Pakistan’s help to advance the June Islamabad pact.
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On the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in the Turkish resort city of Antalya, Pakistan’s prime minister sat down with Iran’s president on Wednesday for talks dominated by the confrontation between Iran and the United States. The meeting brought together two neighbours whose diplomacy has become central to efforts to keep the region from sliding into a wider war.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met in what the Prime Minister’s Office described as a warm and cordial atmosphere, according to statements issued after the talks. The two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and the evolving regional situation, with the standoff between Iran and the United States at the top of the agenda.
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According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Sharif expressed deep concern over the continued military confrontation between Iran and the US. He stressed the need for restraint, dialogue and sustained diplomatic engagement to ease tensions and achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.
The prime minister said Pakistan was ready to play an honest and constructive role in efforts to implement the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, an agreement signed between Iran and the US in June aimed at permanently ending the conflict. He underscored the importance of building on the understandings reached under that memorandum, describing it as a pathway towards enduring peace.
The Iranian presidency said in its own statement that the two leaders had discussed initiatives to strengthen economic and political ties. It said Mr Pezeshkian and Mr Sharif had stressed the need to expand economic and trade relations between Iran and Pakistan as part of efforts to safeguard their mutual interests, including security.
President Pezeshkian appreciated Pakistan’s continued diplomatic support for Iran and its efforts to promote regional peace and security, according to the Pakistani statement. He said Iran was seriously interested in expanding its relations with Pakistan across a wide range of fields.
Pakistan has acted as a mediator in the standoff between Iran and the United States, and the Antalya meeting was the latest in a series of contacts between the two leaders on the issue. The talks took place as world leaders gathered in Antalya for the COP31 Leaders’ Summit, where nearly 200 countries are discussing climate action.
During the summit, Mr Sharif also held meetings with the prime ministers of Kuwait and Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, the World Bank president and the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, according to reports from the conference.
The two leaders reaffirmed the close and longstanding ties between Pakistan and Iran and agreed on the need to further strengthen bilateral relations in all areas. Both sides expressed hope that Pakistan and Iran would continue working together to promote peace, stability and understanding in the region and contribute to de-escalating tensions.
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