Pakistan convenes Saudi, Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers for talks on the Middle East conflict, with Islamabad mediating between the US and Iran.
ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt gathered in the Pakistani capital on Sunday for crucial talks on the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The four-way meeting, hosted by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, was slated to discuss efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, according to a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty and Turkey’s Hakan Fidan arrived in Islamabad on Saturday night, while Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan landed on Sunday afternoon.
Security was significantly heightened across Islamabad’s diplomatic Red Zone, with several key roads sealed off and the foreign ministry driveway decorated with the flags of all four nations.
Dar held separate bilateral meetings with Abdelatty and Fidan on Sunday morning before the visiting ministers jointly met Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The Pakistani government has positioned itself as a key facilitator between Iran and the United States as their conflict continues, serving as an intermediary for messages.
Islamabad maintains longstanding ties with Tehran and close contacts in the Gulf, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Munir have developed a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump.
Although Tehran refuses to admit to official talks with Washington, an anonymous source cited by Iran’s Tasnim news agency said it passed a response to Trump’s 15-point peace plan via Islamabad.
Prime Minister Sharif revealed on Saturday that he held a detailed telephone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian lasting over an hour regarding Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach.
Pezeshkian reportedly thanked Islamabad for its mediation efforts to stop the aggression in the region.
In a significant confidence-building measure, Foreign Minister Dar announced late on Saturday that Iran had permitted 20 more Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward,” Dar stated in a social media post directed at key US and Iranian officials.