RAWALPINDI: Pakistan is cautiously optimistic about its mediation between Iran and the United States, the military’s chief spokesperson said on Friday, after a high-level delegation consisting of officials from Makkah pact nations visited Tehran this week.
Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir has been to Tehran twice this month, and was joined by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin at the latest meeting.
He would not be visiting so often if not for some positivity, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Reuters.
“Yes, of course,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief said when asked whether the trips were a positive sign.
“The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” he added.
There were still “powerful spoilers and detractors”, who believe conflict serves them, Lt Gen Chaudhry said, without naming them.
Speaking in Rawalpindi, Lt Gen Chaudhry declined to say what was discussed or whether the United States had backed the trip.
When asked whether Iran could join the Makkah Defence Alliance, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the wording of the pact does not bar new members.
“Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome,” he said, adding that it was for the political leadership of the three principal parties to decide.
Asked whether more Pakistani troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, the ISPR chief said that would depend on the situation and the decision of both countries’ political leadership.
He said Pakistan was committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Makkah and Madina.
“We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict,” he added.
Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2026
