As Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic standing and attract business. Pakistani officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the standoff in the strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting would happen, viewing objections voiced by the Iranian side and Donald Trump’s threats as posturing for domestic audiences. At stake is not only regional peace, but also Islamabad’s own concerns about becoming dragged into the war and its dependence on energy supplies shipped from the Gulf.
Often portrayed as an international problem child, under threat from religious extremism and with an economy perennially on the brink, Pakistan seized the opportunity of its relative neutrality in the conflict to take the role of “adult in the room”. A three-day visit to Tehran last week by Pakistan’s powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, helped produce a ceasefire in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, and a short-lived breakthrough on opening the strait of Hormuz.
Pakistani officials expect concessions from the two camps, including on Iran’s nuclear programme, the trickiest dispute. If an agreement is reached, Pakistan is hopeful that Trump and the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will fly to Islamabad to sign the deal.
A security cordon was reinstated around the centre of Islamabad on Sunday, with roads closed and the two big hotels there emptied of guests in order to house the Iranian and US delegations – if they return. The only nuclear-armed country in the Muslim world, with an army of 600,000 soldiers, Pakistan believes it has been punching below its weight.