Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit Washington on Friday where he will meet with US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

The visit comes as Islamabad is attempting to negotiate a peace pact to permanently end the US-Israeli war with Iran. The meeting with Rubio was originally scheduled for today but later moved to Friday.

Dar will meet Rubio “to review bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The discussions will also focus on strengthening cooperation in key priority sectors, as well as Pakistan’s efforts to promote regional peace and stability through dialogue and diplomacy,” the foreign office elaborated, adding that the visit “reflects Pakistan’s commitment to further deepening its longstanding and broad-based partnership with the United States.”

DPM Dar is expected to leave for Islamabad later in the day after wrapping up his engagements in Washington.

The visit comes amid an escalation in hostilities as the US and Iran traded blows today on the back of a cabinet meeting chaired by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Rubio had told attendees and the media that the administration was looking for progress over the next few hours or days. “Mr President, you have other options as well, if that doesn’t work,” he told Trump.

Trump in the meeting had claimed that Tehran was in a tight spot as they “just want to make a deal. I dont think they have a choice”. An Iranian official, however, claimed that Trump is “seeking a way out of this strategic deadlock” and “alternates between issuing threats and appealing for an agreement”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in an Eid call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he hoped that a peace deal between Iran and the US which afforded dignity and honour to the Iranian nation could be reached soon. “This would help unlock the true economic potential of Iran and benefit the entire region,” the premier had said.