Pakistan is joining a growing list of countries acting as go-betweens for the United States and Iran, four sources told NBC News, with two of those sources saying an in-person meeting could be held in the coming days in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.
A diplomatic source said Pakistan is in conversations with both the U.S. and Iran and is “well poised to play an active role” in discussions to end the war, which has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced millions as it enters its fourth week. A Gulf official said Pakistan had been passing messages between the two countries for the past two days.
For the first time since the conflict began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. and Iran had held “very good and productive conversations” and that the discussions would “continue throughout the week.” The announcement was an about-face from the president’s stark ultimatum over the weekend demanding that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or the U.S. would “obliterate” the country’s power plants.
“We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this,” Trump told reporters of his decision to postpone U.S. strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. “Otherwise, we’ll keep bombing our little hearts out.”
Senior Iranian officials including Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, denied Monday that negotiations were taking place and accused Trump of trying to “manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”
But Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acknowledged to official news agency IRNA that Iran had received messages in recent days from “certain friendly states conveying the U.S. request for negotiations to end the war,” and that appropriate responses had been given.
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Pakistan, which is embroiled in its own deadly conflict with neighboring Afghanistan, is one of at least three countries — along with Turkey and Egypt — that are acting as intermediaries between the U.S. and Iran, according to a source familiar with the diplomatic efforts.
Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route along its southern coast that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, has been devastating for Asia, and especially Pakistan. The South Asian country of about 260 million people relies on Gulf states for the vast majority of its crude oil imports and almost all of its liquified natural gas.
A Middle East diplomat who has been briefed on the possible indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran said that “there are talks about talks” and that there might be a meeting in Islamabad.
Asked about a potential meeting between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan, the diplomatic source said diplomacy was in “full swing” but that there were multiple proposals and nothing had been confirmed.
The White House did not confirm whether Pakistan was acting as an intermediary with Iran.
“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the U.S. will not negotiate through the press,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday and “conveyed his serious concern over the dangerous ongoing hostilities in the Gulf region.”
“In view of this grave situation, the Prime Minister underscored the urgent need to work collectively for de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy amongst all the neighboring countries to settle their differences,” according to a readout from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“While sharing with the Iranian President the diplomatic outreach efforts of Pakistan’s leadership, the Prime Minister assured the Iranian leadership that Pakistan would continue to play a constructive role in facilitating peace in the region,” it added.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr. Badr Abdelatty also held separate calls with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, along with the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar.
“Minister Abdel-Aty stressed during the discussions the importance of restraint and wisdom at this critical juncture,” according to a readout from Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “as well as the importance of ensuring the security of maritime navigation and preventing any obstruction of it, in light of its regional and international economic repercussions and its impact on trade, supply chains, and oil and food prices.”
On Monday, Trump referred to the discussions between the U.S. and Iran as “preliminary” but expressed optimism that the two sides could reach an agreement.
“I think there’s a very good chance we’re going to end up in a deal,” he said. “And so we’re giving it five days, and then we’re going to see where that takes us.”
