Pakistan ‘cautiously optimistic’ on Iran-US mediation, says ISPR DG

Pakistan is “cautiously optimistic” about its mediation between Iran and the United States, the army spokesperson said in his first interview since a high-level delegation visited Tehran last week.

Field Marshal Asim Munir, the army chief and Pakistan’s point man in efforts to de-escalate the now eight-month-old Iran war, has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday together with Saudi and Turkish officials.

‘Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? “So yes, of course,” said spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry when asked if the trips were a positive sign.

AGREEMENT NOT TO BLOCK NEW MEMBERS

“The word we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” said Chaudhry, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“But still there are powerful spoilers and detractors,” he added, without naming them, who think strife suits them.

Speaking in Rawalpindi, the garrison city where Pakistan’s armed forces are based, Chaudhry declined to specify what was discussed or whether the United States had supported the trip.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin were with Munir when he flew to Tehran on Monday. On August 7, their two countries inked a combined defence deal with Pakistan saying an assault on any signatory will be considered as an attack on all.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement has gained new importance since the Iran war has changed regional alignments and sparked worries of a broader Middle East confrontation.

The three signatories insist the deal is about collective deterrence and regional security, but observers view its development as intimately linked to efforts by regional countries to handle the fallout from the Iran-US rivalry.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said after Monday’s talks that regional security should be guarantyd by regional countries without international meddling.

“The text of the pact does not exclude new members,” Chaudhry said Friday when asked if Iran might be a member.