Pakistan backs diplomacy as US-Iran tensions test West Asia peace efforts

Pakistan said it remains hopeful of peace in West Asia and urged dialogue after fresh US-Iran tensions. The outreach, alongside its new defence coordination with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, signals a broader push for regional de-escalation.

In Short

• Sharif and Ishaq Dar separately engaged Iranian leaders at SCO summit
• Islamabad MoU was presented as the most viable route to stability
• June's US-Iran accord unravelled after strikes and Hormuz-linked disputes resurfaced

Pakistan on Wednesday said it remained hopeful about peace in West Asia despite the recent escalation between the US and Iran, and stressed that dialogue and diplomacy were needed for stability in the region.

The remarks came days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate meetings with Iranian leaders on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Monday, where they discussed the evolving regional situation.

At a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Sharif had reiterated Pakistan's commitment to peace through restraint, dialogue and diplomacy. He said the prime minister had stressed that the Islamabad MoU offered the most viable pathway to lasting peace and stability in the region.

"Despite recent escalations, we remain hopeful, and we will continue to strive for dialogue and diplomacy," Andrabi said. Dar also met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the summit and underscored the need for dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the region.

In June, the US and Iran signed an MoU aimed at bringing peace in West Asia, with Pakistan signing the document as a guarantor. The negotiations collapsed in early July after renewed military strikes, with both sides accusing each other of violating the agreement and remaining deadlocked over demands linked to the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf chokepoint through which about a fifth of the world's energy supplies passed in peacetime.

Andrabi said Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir had also visited Tehran last week to help facilitate an end to the US-Iran conflict. The visit, he said, "underscored Islamabad's sincere and constructive role in bridging differences between Washington and Tehran".

Referring to the inaugural meeting of the Strategic, Political and Defence Committee set up under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 31, Andrabi said the three sides had reaffirmed their resolve to work together for regional peace, stability and de-escalation, including through restraint and the peaceful resolution of crises.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the trilateral defence agreement on August 7. Under it, an attack on one of the countries will be treated as an attack on all three, amid growing security concerns over rising tensions in West Asia. Andrabi said the three countries had agreed to further institutionalise cooperation under the agreement, strengthening solidarity, collective deterrence and defence, and cooperative security for "just, inclusive and lasting peace". He added that a secretariat headed by a secretary-general would be set up in Saudi Arabia, with the post to be held initially by a secretary-general from Pakistan for three years.

Pakistan's latest remarks and engagements with Iran, as well as the new trilateral defence framework with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, reflect its stated push for restraint, dialogue and regional de-escalation amid continuing tensions in West Asia.

With PTI Inputs

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