Pakistan’s army has expressed cautious optimism about mediation between Iran and the United States, as regional efforts continue to revive a ceasefire in the eight-month-old conflict.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s spokesman, said there were positive signs following a high-level Pakistani delegation to Tehran. His remarks were the first since Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Iran earlier this week.
Munir, Pakistan’s chief mediator, has visited Tehran twice this month. He most recently travelled there on Monday with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.
“Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course,” General Chaudhry said when asked whether the visits represented a positive sign.
He added: “The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic.”
Speaking in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan’s armed forces, General Chaudhry declined to disclose what had been discussed in Tehran or whether the United States had supported the visit.
He warned that mediation faced opposition from “powerful spoilers and detractors” who believed the conflict served their interests, without identifying them.
The comments came as Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran in another apparent attempt to negotiate the restoration of a June ceasefire, which collapsed months later.
Regional defence pact
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have deepened their security ties since signing the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7. The pact says an attack on any one of the signatories will be treated as an attack on all.
General Chaudhry said the agreement’s wording did not prevent other countries joining, raising the possibility of Iran becoming a member. “Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome,” he said.
He stressed that any decision would rest with the political leadership of the three signatory countries.
Asked whether Pakistan was sending additional troops to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, General Chaudhry said that would depend on the situation and on decisions by the political leadership of both countries.
He said Pakistan remained committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, but added that Islamabad was not involved in the conflict in Yemen, which he described as an intra-Yemeni conflict.
