Pakistani minister arrives in Tehran to ‘facilitate’ US-Iran peace talks: media

TEHRAN - Pakistan’s interior minister arrived in Tehran on May 16“to facilitate” the peace talks between Iran and the United States that have stalled despite a fragile ceasefire, Iranian media reported.

“Mohsin Naqvi arrived today in the Islamic Republic of Iran on an official two-day visit as part of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to facilitate talks and promote regional peace,” the Tasnim news agency reported.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni received Mr Naqvi, whose visit to Tehran comes days after that of Pakistan’s influential army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Islamabad has been actively mediating in the peace talks between Iran and the US and last month hosted a high stakes meeting between delegations from both sides.

A ceasefire announced on April 9 has largely halted the fighting that erupted when US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on Feb 28.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on May 15 that Tehran had received messages from Washington indicating that President Donald Trump’s administration was willing to continue negotiations.

Iran’s chief negotiator and speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on May 12 that Washington should accept Tehran’s proposal for peace or face “failure” after Mr Trump rejected an Iranian counteroffer and warned the ceasefire was on “life support”.

“There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal. Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another,” Mr Ghalibaf said, in a social media post. AFP