ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Sunday, as Islamabad steps up mediation efforts while tensions surge between the US and Iran in the Middle East.
Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Saturday evening, where he met his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni to discuss regional developments, state-run Pakistan TV Digital reported. Islamabad has mediated for months between the US and Iran ever since their military confrontation began in February, relaying messages between both sides and exchanging peace proposals.
The Pakistani minister’s visit to Tehran takes place as the US and Iran exchange attacks in the Middle East that threaten to unravel a fragile ceasefire that has largely held since April.
“Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meets Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi,” Naqvi’s official WhatsApp channel said in a statement.
The channel also released pictures of Naqvi shaking hands with Araghchi and holding discussions with him in a bilateral meeting.
’SPECIAL LETTER’
Speaking to the media alongside Momeni on Saturday night after his arrival in Tehran, Naqvi said he had traveled to deliver a “special letter” from Pakistan’s military chief and a message from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for Iran’s supreme leader.
“I am here to deliver a special letter from the field marshal [General Asim Munir] for his Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei and a message from the prime minister regarding the current situation,” Naqvi told reporters.
Tensions have risen after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday it targeted the Ali Al Salem air base, which hosts US forces in Kuwait, and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain. Bahrain and Kuwait both condemned Iran’s attacks.
The US military said it shot down Iranian ballistic missiles and drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf Arab allies on Friday, while striking some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response.
Naqvi’s meeting with Momeni on Saturday was his third with him in three days. The previous two meetings between the two took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) interior ministers’ gathering in Bishkek earlier this week.
The exchange of strikes between the US and Iran comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran to make a deal to end the conflict.
Pakistan has played an increasingly visible role in efforts to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Tehran. Islamabad hosted the first round of talks between the two sides in April, though the negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough.
