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Pakistan hosted foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for talks on the war in the Middle East, with Islamabad acting as a key facilitator for the United States and Iran.
Pakistan’s foreign minister said the diplomats gathered to review the escalation in the region and discuss issues of mutual interest.
A foreign ministry source said that Iran, the United States, and Israel were not represented at the meeting.
AFP reported that many roads leading to Islamabad’s Red Zone, where key government buildings and diplomatic missions are based, were sealed off. Security in the area was tight, and flags from all four countries decorated the driveway.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, arrived in Islamabad on Saturday night, while their Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, touched down on Sunday afternoon.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate bilateral talks with his visiting counterparts before the meeting commenced. Fidan and Abdelatty also jointly met Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The Pakistani Government has emerged as an intermediary between Iran and the United States amid escalating tensions.
Islamabad and Tehran share longstanding ties and close contacts in the Gulf, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Munir have struck up a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump.
An anonymous source cited by the Iranian Tasnim news agency disclosed that Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington but has passed a response to Trump’s 15-point plan to end the war via Islamabad.
Sharif on Saturday said he had a detailed telephone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian lasting over one hour, during which he discussed his country’s “ongoing diplomatic outreach”.
