ISLAMABAD: The latest attempt to bring the United States and Iran to the table through Pakistan is in flux, with Washington and Tehran giving conflicting accounts of what, if anything, is planned.
The White House said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Islamabad for talks with Iran. But an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said no meeting between Iran and the United States is planned, adding that Tehran’s observations would be conveyed by Pakistan. Fresh reports have since said the planned envoy trip was called off, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi questioning whether Washington is truly serious about diplomacy.
Araghchi himself arrived in Islamabad as part of a three-country tour, amid the conflicting statements. The core sticking point, as described by both sides, remains the Strait of Hormuz: Iran says it is prepared to reopen the strait if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, while Washington has not indicated it will lift the restrictions.
Pakistan’s mediation role runs deep. Pakistan and Qatar helped broker an interim agreement in June aimed at restoring shipping through the strait and beginning negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. Pakistan’s military says it is “cautiously optimistic” about its mediation, while warning that unnamed “powerful spoilers and detractors” still believe the conflict serves them. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), gave that assessment to Reuters on October 30.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, has emerged as Islamabad’s chief mediator, travelling to Tehran twice in October, most recently on October 26 alongside Saudi and Turkish officials. Pakistan hosted an earlier round of talks in Islamabad in April, when a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met an Iranian delegation led by parliament speaker Bagher Ghalibaf; those talks ended without a deal but left the door open to further dialogue. US envoy Tom Barrack has said Washington is close to a deal, and reports say Vance has offered to meet Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, with Tehran yet to respond.
Markets have reacted to every twist: oil prices fell sharply on Monday as hopes of a breakthrough rose and fell. For now, the process rests on Pakistan’s shuttle role — carrying messages between two sides that cannot agree even on whether they are meeting.
Sources: BBC World Service, Reuters (via Clash Report), Associated Press of Pakistan via AAP, The Economic Times, UNB (sourced to Al Jazeera), Education Post.
