Pakistan army ‘cautiously optimistic’ about US-Iran mediation efforts

Key points

• Pakistan's military spokesman says there are positive signs in efforts to mediate between Iran and the US.
• Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday.
• Chaudhry warned that unnamed parties are trying to obstruct the mediation efforts.

Pakistan's army is "cautiously optimistic" about mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, according to Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesman for Pakistan's military. He spoke to the Reuters news agency on Friday, in his first comments since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week.

Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, described as Pakistan's chief mediator, has travelled to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday with Saudi and Turkish officials. Asked whether the trips were a positive sign, Chaudhry said: "Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course."

Warnings of spoilers

Chaudhry said there are parties seeking to obstruct mediation between the US and Iran. He referred to "powerful spoilers and detractors" who believe conflict serves them, without naming them.

Speaking in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan's armed forces are headquartered, he declined to say what was discussed in Tehran or whether the US had backed the trip. His comments came as Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran in another apparent bid to revive the June ceasefire that collapsed months later.

The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic

— Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry

Defence pact questions

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin joined Munir in Tehran on Monday. Their countries signed a joint defence pact with Pakistan on August 7, stating that an attack on any signatory would be treated as an attack on all.

Chaudhry said the pact does not bar new members and that anyone sharing a vision of collective deterrence and regional peace would be welcome, though the three principal parties' political leadership would decide. Asked whether more Pakistani troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia, he said that would depend on the situation and both countries' political leadership. He said Pakistan was committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, adding: "We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict."