The United States and Iran are said to have agreed in principle to a framework that could wind down the Middle East war by reopening the Strait of Hormuz and committing Tehran to dispose of its highly enriched uranium, a senior US official told reporters on Sunday. Another American official went further, saying Washington believed Iran’s supreme leader had signalled he would not veto the broad outline of the deal.

To date, no Iranian source has publicly corroborated that assertion. A senior Tehran official told Reuters on Sunday that the Islamic Republic had not agreed to hand over its stockpile and that the nuclear file remained outside any preliminary agreement. Another Iranian official, quoted by The Guardian, added another layer, saying the proposed memorandum still requires approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the supreme leader, and that “one or two clauses” must be clarified before the document can move up the chain. Just as importantly for Pakistan, those reservations have already been conveyed to Pakistani mediators, confirming that Islamabad remains inside the most sensitive part of the process rather than merely watching from the corridor.

Washington’s warming to Pakistan has as much to do with the collapse of US-India ties as with Islamabad’s diplomatic acumen, a reminder that geopolitical shifts have made Pakistan an indispensable middleman.

Washington’s warming to Pakistan has as much to do with the collapse of US-India ties as with Islamabad’s diplomatic acumen, a reminder that geopolitical shifts have made Pakistan an indispensable middleman.

As Washington presents the war launched in February as nearing a political settlement, attention in diplomatic circles has again turned to Pakistan. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defence forces and army chief, left Tehran late Saturday after what Islamabad’s Inter-Services Public Relations described as a “short but highly productive” visit, during which he met President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to urge de-escalation and a “final understanding”. The fact that Iran’s remaining objections have been passed through the Pakistani channel suggests Islamabad continues to be trusted with the clauses that could make or break the draft.

Iran’s President........

© Daily Times