Pakistan Emerges as Key Player in U.S.-Iran Talks After Stops in Tehran and Washington

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\r\n[Financial News] As ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran enter their final stage, Pakistan, a key mediator, is sending its top diplomat to Washington, D.C., where he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Observers say the meeting could become a turning point for a final agreement, as progress has accelerated since a powerful Pakistani military figure recently visited Tehran in person.
According to CNN and other outlets, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the 28th, local time, that Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar will meet Rubio in Washington, D.C. on the 29th to discuss bilateral ties as well as regional and international developments.
The ministry said the talks will focus on strengthening cooperation in key priority areas, as well as efforts to promote regional peace and stability through dialogue and diplomacy. Diplomats interpret that wording as a reference to the ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran.
Pakistan has recently taken on a central mediating role between the United States and Iran. In particular, the pace of the talks picked up sharply after Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces, visited Tehran on the 22nd and 23rd, leading to assessments that Pakistan’s influence has grown.
Munir is said to have met successively with Iran’s leadership, including the president, the speaker of parliament and the foreign minister, to discuss the ceasefire talks and security issues in the Middle East.
Reports later emerged that a draft ceasefire memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran had reached the agreement stage. Iran, however, has remained cautious, saying the final wording has not yet been settled.
Dar is currently in the United States to attend a United Nations Security Council open debate at United Nations Headquarters in New York. According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he also met Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China and foreign minister, in New York on the same day. The ministry said the two leaders exchanged views on recent regional developments and Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote lasting peace and stability in the region and beyond. It added that Wang repeatedly expressed appreciation for and support of Pakistan’s constructive role.
With China also publicly backing Pakistan’s mediating role, the ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran are increasingly taking on the character of a multilateral diplomatic contest over the reshaping of the Middle East order, rather than a simple bilateral negotiation.
The United States and Iran are now in final coordination over the handling of highly enriched uranium, the scope of sanctions relief and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
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km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter