Pakistan finds itself at the centre stage of world politics; it brokered a cease-fire, hosted the peace talks, and its leaders shuttled between world capitals to bring the region and the world to peace. Pakistan finds itself being squeezed by the USA on one side and simultaneously by the consequences of this war on the other. On 8 April 2026, just a few weeks ago, a nuclear war was potentially building up, only hours before President Trump had posted on Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”. Pakistan, however, stepped in, negotiating a ceasefire framework based on the ten-point Iranian proposals, and it worked; temporarily, though, it worked. Four weeks down the road, the ceasefire still holds. These highest-level negotiations between America and Iran since the 1979 revolution did not happen in Geneva, not in Vienna, not in Qatar, but in Islamabad.

Why did this seem historically remarkable? Pakistan hosted these mediations despite not formally recognising Israel, the war initiator. But why Pakistan, and what could it cost Pakistan to be in this position? Let us start with “why Pakistan”. This question spells out the causes for the mediatory role. A mediator is required in any negotiation that both sides perceive as neutral and can trust. In this situation, there is almost nobody whom both the USA and Iran can trust mutually. A plausible analysis of a few likely candidates can reinforce this point. Consider Qatar as a mediator; a GCC member, it has been there before, too. It hosts an American military base and was struck by Iran........

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