Pakistan makes fresh push to revive US-Iran peace talks

Pakistan is once again trying to revive negotiations with Tehran to end the five-month-old war in West Asia.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Tuesday, August 12, as Islamabad sought to restart a peace process derailed by renewed US-Iran military strikes last month.

The main objective of Naqvi’s visit was to follow up on a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported,

citing a diplomatic source.

The agreement, to which Pakistan signed on as a guarantor, was intended to open a 60-day window for high-level negotiations. The talks stalled as tensions escalated and the two sides resumed strikes.

Naqvi told Pezeshkian that ties between the neighbouring countries were “strong, long-standing and unbreakable” and conveyed Islamabad’s determination to expand relations with Tehran, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

Pezeshkian said closer Iran-Pakistan ties would serve both countries’ national interests and contribute to regional security and stability.

Naqvi was received in Tehran by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni, and also held talks with Araghchi on bilateral relations and regional developments.

Pakistan’s attempts to revive the broader negotiations have so far made little progress, while Oman has taken the lead in talks over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for global energy supplies.

Tehran and Muscat have said negotiations on a new maritime arrangement are nearing completion. The discussions cover possible alternative shipping routes and mechanisms for managing passage through the strait.

Iran has, however, said any agreement with Oman would be a technical, first-stage arrangement and would not in itself mean that the waterway was reopening. Tehran has linked a full reopening to Washington addressing what it describes as violations of the June agreement.

Pakistan has invited Araghchi and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to visit Islamabad.