ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and Qatar on Thursday stepped up diplomatic efforts to salvage the fragile peace process between Iran and the United States after a new military escalation threatened to derail the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that ended months of hostilities.
The latest crisis erupted after the United States launched a new wave of strikes on Iranian military targets, saying the strikes were in response to Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes targeting US military installations in the Gulf, raising fears of a full-scale war.
Amid the rapidly deteriorating security situation, Chief of Army Staff and Defense Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir held a telephone conversation on Thursday evening with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Araghchi strongly condemned the recent US military strikes, describing them as a “clear violation” of the UN Charter and the Islamabad MoU. He said statements by senior US officials indicating they were no longer bound by the agreement amounted to an admission that Washington had breached the deal.
The Iranian foreign minister also reiterated Tehran’s determination to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security and warned against what he called further US “adventurism”.
Pakistan has yet to release an official transcript of the conversation. The phone call came as Islamabad intensified behind-the-scenes diplomacy to prevent the peace process from unraveling.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry expressed “deep concern” over the renewed violence and called on all sides to exercise restraint and abide by their obligations under the Islamabad MoU.
“There is no alternative to continued engagement, dialogue and diplomacy,” the State Department said, warning that renewed conflict serves no one’s interest.
Diplomatic sources said Pakistan and Qatar, the two main brokers of the June peace deal, remain in close contact with both Tehran and Washington in an effort to restore the ceasefire and resume talks on outstanding issues including maritime security, sanctions and implementation of the MoU.
The latest flare-up began after three commercial vessels, including a Qatari LNG tanker, came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by targeting international shipping, prompting President Donald Trump to declare the ceasefire effectively over before authorizing new military strikes against Iranian targets.
However, Iran insists that the US was the first to violate the agreement by attacking Iranian territory. Tehran maintains that only routes designated by Iranian authorities are approved for commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a position rejected by Washington and several regional states.
The renewed hostilities have cast serious doubt on the future of the Islamabad MoU, which was signed in June after weeks of painstaking negotiations brokered by Pakistan with strong support from Qatar. The agreement was designed as a temporary framework to halt military operations and create conditions for negotiations on broader political and security issues.
Diplomatic observers say the coming days will be decisive for the future of the deal. Although neither Tehran nor Washington has formally withdrawn from the memorandum of understanding, each side now accuses the other of violating its provisions, making the mediators’ task increasingly difficult.
Despite the sharp escalation, Pakistani officials remain hopeful that sustained diplomatic engagement can prevent a complete collapse of the peace process.
Officials believe that maintaining channels of communication with both capitals remains critical to containing the crisis and steering the parties back toward negotiations before the conflict escalates into another full-scale regional confrontation.
