Pakistan’s PM offers to host talks for a ‘comprehensive’ end to the war as Trump’s new countdown begins
Aamer Madhani And Jon Gambrell
Updated ,first published
Dubai/Washington: Pakistan’s prime minister said his country was ready to “facilitate meaningful and definitive negotiations” to end the Iran war.
Shehbaz Sharif, in a post on channel
Pakistan is one of the countries that has been pressuring diplomatically for negotiations between Iran and the United States after US President Donald Trump said that negotiations between Washington and Tehran were continuing.
Trump began the fourth week of his war against Iran by offering the world cautious optimism that the United States could soon end its operations; This claim drew a muted reaction from the Iranian regime but temporarily calmed the nerves of global markets.
Trump said on Monday (US time) that he was delaying attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days, citing “important points of agreement” with Iran.
He said the Islamic Republic wanted “to make a deal” and claimed that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had held talks on Sunday with an Iranian leader. He did not say who the Iranian leader was, but confirmed that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was not involved in any negotiations.
Iranian officials viewed Trump’s comments as a ploy to stall for time to “lower energy prices and buy time to implement their military plans.”
Iranian state television later quoted Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, spokesman for Iran’s highest military command, as saying: “Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and determined to defend the integrity of Iran, and this path will continue until complete victory.”
However, US media outlet CBS News, citing an unnamed senior Iranian foreign ministry official, stated that Iranian officials are reviewing US messages sent through various mediators.
Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan have been cited as potential mediators, and a Gulf diplomat told The Associated Press that Egypt and Türkiye are leading efforts to de-escalate tensions.
“For now, it appears that they have managed to prevent an energy disaster that would occur if Trump attacked Iran’s energy facilities and Iran responded,” said the diplomat, who was not authorized to speak to journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Türkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on whether this country was conveying messages between Iran and the United States. However, Turkish officials confirmed that the country’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had met with his counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and the European Union, as well as US officials, as part of efforts to end the war.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian official said that the United States and Iran exchanged messages over the weekend through Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan to prevent attacks on energy infrastructure. The official was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A source familiar with the matter said that Trump also spoke with Pakistani Chief of General Staff Asim Munir about the conflict with Iran and the talks with the country.
Besides the close ties developed with Trump, Pakistan also benefits from long-standing ties with other key players such as its neighbor Iran and Saudi Arabia. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and US news outlet Axios, citing an unidentified Israeli official, reported that mediating countries were trying to arrange a meeting in Islamabad with Witkoff, Kushner and possibly US Vice President JD Vance.
“All I’m saying is we’re in the throes of possibly getting a real deal,” Trump said during a lengthy call with reporters before boarding Air Force One on Monday (US time) from his home in Florida to an event in Memphis, Tennessee.
“And I guess, if I were a betting man, I’d bet on it. But I still don’t guarantee anything.”
Trump’s comeback served to lower oil prices and provide relief to financial markets from recent harsh attacks by both the United States and Iran. But hopes of reducing tensions may be short-lived amid reports that Trump’s Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are preparing to enter into conflict.
Wall StreetJournal Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow the United States military access to King Fahd Air Base, quoting people familiar with the situation; This was an apparent reversal after he said his bases could not be used to attack his long-time rival.
New York Times Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pushing Trump to continue the war against Iran to destroy the hardline government, according to sources briefed by US officials about these talks.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has closed an Iranian hospital and club, undermining a key source of support for Tehran. According to the report, the videos also show that some of the missiles used in attacks against Iran were launched from Bahrain.
Some regional analysts noted that if Trump had ended the war now, he would have walked away from the conflict while still not fully achieving his stated goals.
Over the past few weeks, Trump has offered varying reasons for starting the war, as Democrats accuse him of unnecessarily disrupting the global economy and domestic polls show Americans divided along party lines on the conflict.
But the president has laid out a list of goals that he says must be achieved, including reducing Iran’s missile capability, destroying its defense industrial base, dismantling Iran’s navy, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and ensuring the security of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Monday that the United States would take back Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a possible deal with the Islamic Republic, but he gave no details on how that would be done, beyond saying the U.S. military would “take it ourselves.”
U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment has made progress on some of these goals. But analysts say Trump could strain credulity at this point if he claims success in achieving his goals, particularly in ending Iran’s ability to build a nuclear bomb once and for all.
The United States and nuclear observers believe that about 970 kilograms of highly enriched uranium is buried under debris at three key Iranian nuclear facilities that were heavily damaged by a limited US military operation last June during the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Aaron David Miller, the State Department’s former Middle East negotiator and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on X: “Trump’s choice for war did not achieve his military goals.”
Miller noted that Iran is still able to attack its Gulf allies and effectively control the Strait of Hormuz. “No nuclear weapons; no enrichment; good luck with that. An extremely inept use of America’s power.”
Meanwhile, more U.S. troops are on the way and Trump is trying to give himself plenty of room to mount another snap.
Trump ordered additional troops to the region last week as the US administration weighed possible steps to take control of the strait to allow safe passage of tankers bringing oil from Gulf countries to Asia.
“We are witnessing how a conflict that started over politics and security is moving towards being defined by energy and economics,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish think tank in Washington.
“It’s hard to ignore the inherent logic of the president’s own comment, which both calmed the markets and bought time for the Marines to arrive.”
