ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Qatar are continuing to exchange messages between Iran and the United States, but Tehran says the contacts have not developed into formal negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had not yet decided whether to resume talks with Washington. His remarks, reported by Iranian media on Saturday, offered a fresh sign that diplomatic channels remain open despite the collapse of a temporary peace agreement and the return of military hostilities, according to Arab News.
“Qatar and Pakistan exchange messages between the parties and are in contact with us, but this does not mean negotiations,” Araghchi told the Iranian outlet Shahrara News.
Pakistan had led a months-long diplomatic effort to ease the conflict. The initiative helped produce an interim agreement in June, which was meant to stop the fighting and create a 60 day period for negotiations on a permanent settlement. However, the arrangement later broke down after renewed US strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks on American interests in the region.
Islamabad has continued to urge both sides to choose diplomacy over confrontation. This week, Pakistan said it was making “all-out efforts” to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table through both direct and indirect channels. Qatar has also played a more active role in the mediation process.
Araghchi said Iran’s discussions with Oman were separate from the wider diplomatic effort. He described them as technical talks focused on creating new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, rather than negotiations on reopening the waterway.
The strait is a vital global energy route, carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Iran has restricted traffic during the conflict, while the United States has blockaded Iranian ports.
Tehran says sanctions relief, the release of frozen assets and an end to military attacks are necessary before normal shipping can resume. Washington, however, accuses Iran of failing to meet its earlier commitment to reopen the strait.
