Pakistan has reacted to the reports claiming a slowdown in Islamabad-led peace efforts between the United States and Iran, calling them “baseless” and a “figment of imagination.”
Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Sunday dismissed the reports, saying, “We have noted several reports in the media, including on social media, citing so-called official government sources regarding the ongoing conflict in the region and Pakistan’s efforts to promote peace and dialogue”.
“We categorically reject these false insinuations attributed to purported official sources as baseless and a figment of imagination. Any attribution to official sources in this regard is incorrect”, he added.
What did reports suggest about Pakistan’s mediation bid?
The clarification from the Pakistan government came after source-based reports by the Wall Street Journal and Pakistani outlet Dawn on a closed-door briefing by one of Islamabad’s senior foreign ministry officials.
The reports suggested that while some progress has been made in mediation, particularly relaying messages between Washington and Tehran, the process has slowed down over a lack of clear response from the Iranian side.
According to the WSJ report, Tehran has refused to engage in any talks with the US-led delegation in Islamabad.
A report by Dawn cited an official who called it surprising that even after the obliteration of naval, air, civilian and military infrastructure, Iran has not responded positively.
“It is surprising that despite the obliteration of significant naval, air force, and other military and civilian infrastructure, Iran has not responded positively to calls for negotiations,” the official was quoted as saying.
The official has also allegedly said that both Pakistan and China had encouraged Iran to come to the table but Tehran has not conveyed its readiness to take part in negotiations.