Pakistan making 'all-out' efforts to revive US-Iran talks

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced it is making "all-out" efforts alongside regional partners to revive direct negotiations between the United States and Iran, which have remained stalled since mid-June despite an earlier memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad. "Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table and the Islamabad MoU and pave the way for peace and stability in the region," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told a weekly news briefing in the capital. He added that Islamabad will continue to "offset spoilers using direct and indirect channels" and ensure the continuation of constructive dialogue to resolve outstanding issues, maintaining that the government remains engaged alongside "brotherly states" in "sincere efforts" to end the crisis.

The spokesman noted that regional stability depends on resolving the conflict, which escalated dramatically in early July when Washington and Tehran began exchanging military strikes after months of rising tensions over maritime navigation rights. Andrabi emphasized that Pakistan's mediation seeks to address core disagreements over security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint that handles a significant portion of global oil shipments and international trade.

High-level engagement in Tehran

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran on Tuesday for high-level discussions with Iranian leadership regarding bilateral relations, security cooperation and pathways to resume the stalled dialogue with Washington, Andrabi said. Naqvi held meetings with Iranian President Masoud Pizishkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior dignitaries to explore concrete avenues for restarting negotiations that broke down over specific technical disagreements. The interior minister has been working closely with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, both of whom have taken active roles in Pakistan's broader mediation initiative alongside other regional actors.

Collapse of June talks

The United States and Iran initially signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 in Islamabad, launching what officials hoped would be a final round of negotiations to end the war that began earlier this year. However, talks stalled within weeks as the two sides failed to reach consensus on critical issues including security guarantees for both nations and protocols for freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Between July 8 and July 24, hostilities intensified when Washington launched military attacks on targets inside Iranian territory, prompting Tehran to respond with strikes against what it described as US military facilities and equipment in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.