People gather after a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war was announced in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
All bets were off. The world and the region prepared for the worst. At one point, it seemed that all Pakistan’s efforts to seek an end to the hostilities would be futile.
However, Pakistani authorities dealing with the complex process did not give up.
The story of Pakistan’s involvement in seeking rapprochement between the US and Iran started last June. It was during the 12-day Iran-Israel war, which the US later joined, that thrust Pakistan into the limelight.
US President Donald Trump inviting Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir was public knowledge, but what happened afterwards and the discreet role Islamabad played over the last 10 months was not widely known.
The 12-day war ended with choreographed attacks by Iran on Doha, but Pakistan, sensing a temporary lull, continued to work behind closed doors to broker a deal between Tehran and Washington.
The White House Trump-Munir meeting was instrumental in establishing personal contacts between the US president and the field marshal. But it was significant that the field marshal’s constructive role managed to win the trust of the top Iranian leadership.
“People may have forgotten the June war, but we didn’t,” said a senior Pakistani official familiar with the development. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, revealed that Pakistan had opened a “discreet” channel between Tehran and Washington after the war.
At one point, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar exchanged various proposals between Iran and the United States.
The official said months before the latest war, Pakistan was quietly pushing for a deal between Iran and the United States.
Pakistan shared a set of draft agreements with the US.
The draft envisaged Iran pledging not to seek nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The secret talks broke down after the US wanted to bring the issue of Iranian ballistic missiles into the final deal, something Iran was unwilling to accede to.
As tensions built ahead of the latest phase of hostilities, Islamabad again stepped into the fray to avert the crisis. While Oman hosted talks between Iran and the US, Pakistan launched a parallel channel seeking de-escalation.
Days before the US and Israel bombed Iran on February 28, Pakistan reached out to Iran seeking a meeting with its Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the field marshal wanted to seek an audience with Khamenei as a last ditch effort to stave off the American and Israeli attacks.
Iranian authorities welcomed the Pakistani efforts but rejected the request for a meeting with the Supreme Leader, citing security concerns.
It was not clear whether the visit could have prevented the US and Israel from assassinating the supreme leader, but it highlighted Pakistan’s close involvement even then in preventing the war from taking place.
Nevertheless, when the war started, Pakistan was not just walking a tight diplomatic tightrope, but was literally navigating landmines. Iran is a neighbour, while the Gulf countries – now under attack from Iran – were Pakistan’s partners and, for some, financial lifelines.
The conflict this time was different because Iran launched retaliatory attacks on the Gulf countries. Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia in September, and Iranian attacks on Riyadh made Islamabad’s challenge even more daunting.
Still, Pakistan chose to pursue the diplomatic route and took advantage of its unique position of having close ties with all relevant countries party to the conflict.
“It was not an easy decision. Some of our Gulf partners were not happy. They did not support mediation efforts. They wanted Trump to finish the job,” noted a source briefed on the matter.
Pakistan nevertheless absorbed the pressure and pushed for diplomacy and offered channels of communication to the warring sides.
At first it had little success, but as the war intensified, fears of a wider conflict became real. That was when Pakistan emerged as an important interlocutor. However, the task was extremely difficult, if not impossible.
As the world watched helplessly as drones and missiles flew across the region, ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices sent through the roof, Pakistan established secure lines of communication to give diplomacy a chance.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his deputy Ishaq Dar were in the lead and reached out to relevant parties, but the actual work was done behind closed doors at the military and intelligence levels.
About 10 days ago, these diplomatic efforts were bearing fruit when a meeting was set between Iranian and American officials in Islamabad.
But the growing trust deficit between Tehran and Washington prevented that meeting from taking place, not once, but twice.
“We were disappointed at one point,” admitted another official. “We thought all was lost.”
But since the stakes were too high, and if the war dragged on, Pakistan would have been forced to take sides, the effort continued.
There was a perilous moment when all sides were close to an understanding. Iran’s attack on Saudi petrochemical plants drew a furious response from Pakistan.
The State Department and the corps commanders issued strong statements condemning the strikes while privately informing Tehran that such strikes could potentially close the small window of diplomacy.
Iran was told that if this window were closed, the results would be catastrophic. The message eventually prompted Iran to agree to an arrangement that unfolded with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s late-night post.
It was a carefully calibrated move designed to give both sides an off-ramp. What happened after the prime minister’s post on X was inevitable. Pakistan had done what few were ready to bet on. Many even questioned Islamabad’s ability and capacity to accomplish something that is now for the history books.
“Despite this historic success, vigilance is required. Advocates and hostile elements may try to discredit this achievement,” a security source warned.
“It must also be remembered that the job is only half done,” the source added.
