Islamabad, truce with Kabul, and Gulf War mediation
The ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the end of Ramadan is part of a broader objective, namely possible talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad to halt the war in the Middle East. US President Donald Trump reported "very good and productive conversations," ostensibly with the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Saudi Arabia is also playing a central role.
Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have brokered a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But only today, the mediation reportedly had another purpose, holding talks between Iran and the United States to end the war in the Middle East in the coming days in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
US President Donald Trump today said that Washington and Tehran had had "very good and productive conversations" over the previous two days.
After making threats against Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, the US president announced instead a five-day delay in new US military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.
Although Iranian media have denied any recent contact between the two sides, an Israeli official told Axios that Steve Witkoff, US envoy for the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had spoken with the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
The same official also explained that the mediating countries are trying to arrange a meeting in Islamabad, which is expected to be attended by Ghalibaf and other Iranian officials. Vice President Vance, in addition to Witkoff and Kushner, may also represent the United States.
The meeting is expected to take place by the end of this week, a sign of Pakistan's growing ambition (and likely China’s, Islamabad's main ally) in regional and Middle Eastern politics.
Last July, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Defence Forces and Pakistan’s dominant political figure, met with President Trump for the first time. Islamabad then joined the Gaza Peace Council, set up by the US president.
In September, the South Asian country signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, to which it also sold several JF-17 fighter jets, jointly manufactured with China.
In the recent past, Riyadh had spoken repeatedly of the need for a nuclear umbrella to defend itself from possible future Iranian attacks. Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, like its archenemy India (the real loser of the whole affair after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jerusalem before the war began).
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30/06/2022 15:40
