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• FO stresses urgency of restoring global shipping routes
• Says Pakistan supports Gulf states’ interests in any final settlement of conflict
• Afghan regime’s claims on alleged Pakistani strikes dismissed as ‘propaganda’
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said diplomacy to end the US-Iran conflict was continuing, with Islamabad maintaining its role as a facilitator between the two sides despite an apparent impasse in talks.
“Channels of communication (between Iran and the US) have remained open. The process of facilitation of talks (by Pakistan) has continued. As such, the status of talks now is that we remain actively engaged with both sides to achieve a resolution of this issue. The clock on diplomacy has not stopped,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at the weekly media briefing.
The remarks come as negotiations remain stalled, with both Washington and Tehran holding firm positions even as a fragile ceasefire continues. The truce, initially brokered by Pakistan earlier this month, has been extended to allow space for diplomacy, but officials acknowledge that the process faces serious sticking points.
Last month, Pakistan hosted the first high-level contact between Iran and the US in decades and mediated those meetings. However, with challenges in convening a second round, Islamabad has shifted back to its role as a facilitator and go-between.
Diplomatic sources say a fresh Iranian proposal — offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for postponing nuclear negotiations — is under review in Washington, but it is expected to be rejected by the US administration, which considers any delay on the nuclear issue unacceptable.
At the same time, US military planners are maintaining pressure on Tehran. Commanders at United States Central Command have reportedly presented options for renewed “short and powerful” strikes if diplomacy fails, underscoring the fragile nature of the current pause in hostilities.
While acknowledging the current deadlock, the spokesperson emphasised that Pakistan would continue engagement with both sides.
Pakistan is actively engaged with both sides to achieve a resolution of this issue. If the two parties can engage in real-time, direct conversation to ease the sticking points, this would be a positive development. We would welcome direct negotiations in a way that helps settle the situation,” Mr Andrabi said.
“We will continue our sincere efforts for the cause of peace and prosperity in the region and beyond,” he added. Against this backdrop, he stressed the urgency of restoring normalcy to maritime routes disrupted by the conflict.
Iran has refused to reopen the Strait unless the US lifts the blockade. President Trump, meanwhile, is linking the lifting of the blockade to a final agreement with Iran on the nuclear issue.
“Current situation is adversely impacting countries around the world, including the region, including Pakistan,” Mr Andrabi said.
The FO spokesperson stressed that reopening the waterway was critical for regional stability.
“We agree on the urgency of the situation and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Normalisation of the situation is an important issue for all of us, particularly for the littoral states of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. We support the legitimate interests of the GCC countries in this regard. The final arrangement has to take into account the interests of our GCC brothers and other countries,” he added.
Amid escalating cross-border tensions, Mr Andrabi again accused Kabul of providing a permissive environment to terrorist groups and said Afghan authorities were trying to cover it up through propaganda.
He said Pakistan rejected Kabul’s assertions following a recent demarche from Taliban authorities, calling it part of a “familiar pattern of propaganda aimed at smoke-screening the permissive environment provided by the Afghan Taliban for known terrorist organisations in Afghanistan.”
He said the presence of militant groups on Afghan soil posed “a serious threat to the regional peace and stability,” adding that “Afghanistan is a haven for TTP / Fitna al-Khawarij, Fitna al-Hind and their affiliates.”
The spokesperson dismissed Afghan claims about Pakistani strikes in Kunar province, saying, “These claims are a blatant lie and an attempt to gain sympathy to cover up the activities of Fitna al-Khawarij.”
He added that “there were no strikes carried out on any university, particularly Sayyed Jamaluddin Afghan University”, describing the allegations as “frivolous and fake”.
He reiterated Pakistan’s core demand, saying it was “a one liner, simple, quite straightforward — that Afghan territory should not be used to plan, sponsor and engineer attacks against Pakistan”. He said this expectation was consistent with international law and past commitments, including those under the Doha Agreement.
Referring to recent contacts, Mr Andrabi said the issue had been discussed in Urumqi and that Pakistan would pursue follow-up in “full earnestness”, particularly to secure Afghan commitments to prevent the use of its territory for attacks.
On the ceasefire, he said Pakistan did not view it in conventional terms but as an understanding that “no attack should emanate from Afghanistan”, including by militant groups operating there. He said such groups were acting “in close cohort, close alliance with the Afghan Taliban authorities.”
The spokesperson pointed to incidents along the border, including in Angoor Ada and Waziristan, calling them “a serious breach of the ceasefire” and alleging direct involvement of Afghan forces in some attacks.
Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2026
