Pakistan pushes US-Iran talks under Islamabad MoU as Middle East tensions rise

Pakistan said it is working to revive US-Iran talks under the Islamabad MoU. It urged restraint as attacks widened across the Middle East and around the Strait of Hormuz.Image used for representational purposes onlyPakistan said on Thursday that it was trying to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed last month, as tensions continued to rise in the region. It said dialogue and diplomacy remained the only way forward amid fresh military action and attacks across the Middle East.At a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan was concerned about the security situation despite a relative lull in hostilities in recent days. He said the pause had raised hopes of a durable and fully respected ceasefire and a return to talks between Washington and Tehran.Andrabi said Pakistan was "doing its utmost" to revive negotiations between the US and Iran and resolve outstanding issues in the spirit of the Islamabad MoU and the Pakistan-Qatar joint statement of June 22. "We support dialogue and diplomacy as they are the only viable path forward," he said.He said Pakistan remained concerned over the "precarious security situation" in the Middle East, even though there had been a relative slowdown in fighting over the past few days. "We welcome all efforts aimed at sustaining cessation of hostilities and resumption of dialogue between the US and Iran," Andrabi said, adding that negotiations were continuing to normalise the situation, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, and to achieve de-escalation. He also urged Washington and Tehran to exercise maximum restraint and honour their commitment to resume technical-level talks in line with the Islamabad MoU and the Pakistan-Qatar joint statement. The MoU between the US and Iran was signed on June 18 after weeks of intensive diplomacy. It envisaged reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the conflict in the Middle East, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, after a further 60 days of negotiations.The understanding came under strain after hostilities resumed on July 7, when Iran attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, accusing the United States of violating the agreement. Several waves of US strikes on Iranian military targets followed. The conflict then widened, with Yemen's Houthi rebels imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and extending the confrontation to another major maritime chokepoint. On Wednesday, the conflict spread further, with explosions reported at a natural gas loading port in Egypt and a US-owned floating storage tanker reportedly targeted by a drone. The United States and Saudi Arabia also carried out joint strikes on Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq in retaliation for attacks on US troops and Saudi oil targets. On Thursday, after a pause of nearly a week, the US again struck Iran in retaliation for Tehran's targeting of American bases in Jordan. Hours later, Kuwait's Ministry of Defence said an Iranian attack had hit a building belonging to a Chinese company north of the country, killing one worker and causing extensive material damage.Pakistan's position, as outlined by Andrabi, was that the recent pause in fighting should be used to push for restraint, restore talks under the Islamabad MoU, and ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 30, 2026 17:02 IST