ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Pakistan on Monday invited Iran’s parliament speaker and foreign minister for urgent consultations on regional developments, as Tehran described Islamabad as its primary mediator with the US.
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq invited Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator with Washington and speaker of parliament. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, meanwhile, invited his Iranian counterpart, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi. The invitations were delivered in Tehran late Monday night after Dar spoke with Araghchi.
“They exchanged views on regional and international developments, including the deteriorating situation in Occupied East Jerusalem,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
It remained unclear when Ghalibaf and Araghchi would travel to Pakistan. A diplomatic source said both men had been asked to come as soon as possible for discussions on regional and international developments. Araghchi was in Iraq on Monday for Arbaeen, which is being observed on Tuesday.
The invitations came roughly 36 hours after US President Donald Trump announced he had canceled imminent strikes against Iran. Trump said allies had urged him to hold off because a deal appeared imminent.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump and persuaded him to call off the planned military action. Trump had also named UAE and Qatar as among the countries that had asked him to cancel the planned strikes.
Iran has been holding talks with Oman about the future of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian authorities say they are close to an agreement but have not indicated whether the waterway would reopen or remain closed.
Pakistan has been relatively quiet on the mediation front compared with earlier efforts that produced the Islamabad MoU. It has, however, remained engaged through back channels with Iran and, together with Qatar, proposed a ceasefire plan during a nearly 13-day period of escalation.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday insisted that Pakistan is the main mediator with US. Spokesman Esmail Baqaei said: “The mediator in the discussions related to Iran and the US is Pakistan, and Qatar also helps in cases where necessary. To say that we have added a new mediator to the existing mediators is not, in the strict sense of the word, the case.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump accused Iran’s leadership of being “unbelievably duplicitous” after Tehran denied that any negotiations were underway with the US. The exchange renewed threats from Trump, who warned Iran faced “decapitation” and said he would keep up military pressure until there was a “deal, or total surrender”.
“I think we’re going to maybe get something, but I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” Trump said, reiterating his threat to launch a major attack on Iran.
The war of words follows a familiar pattern in the five-month conflict between Washington and Tehran.
The president, who on Sunday said renewed talks would begin “tomorrow afternoon” without naming a venue or participants, added that the US Navy maintains complete control over the Strait of Hormuz.
“Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a deal, or total surrender, is accomplished,” he said.
Trump had told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran, along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, had asked him to hold off on what he claimed would have been “the biggest attack since World War II”.
“Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people,” Trump said on Sunday. He described ongoing discussions as a “last chance for them to sign a good document”.
