Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s visit to Tehran was focused on promoting “peace, stability and constructive engagement” among the parties in the region, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Wednesday.
Naqvi landed in Tehran on Tuesday as part of Pakistan’s latest diplomatic push to help end the conflict between Iran and the United States and revive stalled negotiations between the two sides. His visit came as Islamabad sought to use its longstanding ties with Tehran, alongside its relations with Washington, to encourage a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
Speaking at the weekly press briefing, Andrabi said the visit provided an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, security-related matters and regional developments, with particular emphasis on efforts to promote peace and stability.
“His visit provides an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, security-related matters, and regional developments, with a particular focus on efforts to promote peace, stability and constructive engagement amongst the parties in the region,” Andrabi said.
“Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table,” Andrabi said, adding that Islamabad sought to “pave the way for peace and stability in the region”.
“Pakistan will continue to offset spoilers using direct and indirect channels and enable continuation of constructive dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues,” he said.
Andrabi said Pakistan remained engaged alongside its “brotherly states” in sincere efforts to resolve the crisis in the Middle East and the Gulf.
The visit also came amid growing hopes of a possible breakthrough, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying Washington and Tehran could be moving towards an agreement. “Things are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal,” Asif told Bloomberg News, adding that “the signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement.”
