ISLAMABAD — Pakistan announced on Sunday that it is prepared to host diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, as regional powers convened in Islamabad to push for an end to the monthlong conflict.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the initiative follows weeks of quiet diplomacy in which Islamabad has acted as an intermediary, relaying messages between Washington and Tehran. His announcement came after top diplomats from Turkiye, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia held a quadrilateral meeting in the Pakistani capital to discuss de-escalation efforts.
“Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the U.S. have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks,” Dar said in a televised statement. “Pakistan will be honored to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the coming days.”
The foreign ministers from the four nations gathered on Sunday amid tight security in Islamabad’s Red Zone, with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also holding separate meetings with the visiting officials. Dar said the visiting ministers “expressed their full support” for potential U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad, advocating for “dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable pathway” to end the hostilities .
There was no immediate confirmation from Washington or Tehran regarding participation in the proposed talks, and it remained unclear whether the discussions would be direct or indirect. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the diplomatic efforts in state media on Sunday, warning that Iranian forces were prepared for any U.S. ground intervention and would “never accept humiliation”.
The war, which escalated after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, has resulted in thousands of casualties and disrupted global energy markets through Iran’s restrictions on shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz . Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the meetings in Islamabad aimed to open a “direct dialogue” between the U.S. and Iran and to prevent the region from “slipping into a state of complete chaos”.
According to Pakistani officials, the diplomatic push has received backing from China and the United Nations, though analysts caution that the task remains complex given shifting political positions in Washington and internal debates within Tehran.
