Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on the 26th (local time) that, with his country mediating, the United States and Iran are holding indirect talks.
According to AFP and AP, Minister Dar wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that speculation about peace talks between the two countries is "unnecessary," but added, "In fact, the United States and Iran are conducting indirect talks via messages conveyed through Pakistan."
He added, "The United States delivered a cease-fire proposal consisting of 15 items, and the Iranian side is reviewing it," and "Islamic brother countries such as Türkiye and Egypt also support the plan."
This remark by Minister Dar was reported as the first official acknowledgment that Pakistan is playing a mediating role. AFP cited senior sources who requested anonymity the previous day as saying, "The U.S. proposal was delivered to Iran through Pakistan."
Recently, Pakistan volunteered to serve as a mediator to end the war between the United States and Iran, and there is a possibility that face-to-face negotiations between the United States and Iran could be arranged as early as this weekend in the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also wrote on X after a phone call with Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian that he would "play a constructive role for peace in the (Middle East) region."
Earlier, Pakistan's military chief, Army Chief Asim Munir, was reported to have spoken with President Donald Trump on the 22nd. He is assessed to have maintained close ties with the Trump administration, including meeting President Trump in person at the White House in June last year.
Pakistan is a U.S. ally but has no U.S. military base, so it was excluded from Iran's missile targets in this crisis. At the same time, as a neighboring country sharing a border with Iran and an Islamic nation, it has maintained long-standing ties.
Pakistan has also held the status of a U.S. major non-NATO ally since 2004. During the U.S. airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities in June last year, it officially condemned the action while showing a dual track of maintaining and strengthening its relationship with President Trump.