Pakistan is positioning itself as the main broker trying to broker an end to the United States and Israel’s war against Iran, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Sunday, the paper said, citing two people briefed on the call.
On 23 March, US President Donald Trump announced that there had been “productive talks” about a “full and complete resolution” of the US-Israeli war with Iran. However, in response to President Trump’s claims, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement denying any such talks with Washington, the Islamic Republic’s media reported.
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In another development, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken to Donald Trump. In a post on X, Netanyahu said the US president believed there was an “opportunity to use the tremendous successes” of the joint US-Israeli operation to “realize the objectives of the war” by striking a deal with Iran.
Scheduled meeting in Islamabad?
Meanwhile, a Gulf diplomat said an energy disaster could have been averted for now if a planned US attack on Iran’s energy facilities and an Iranian response took place, alluding to recent de-escalation efforts.
An Egyptian official told the Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran exchanged messages over the weekend through regional intermediaries, including Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, suggesting back-channel communications aimed at reducing tensions.
The US has set April 9 as a potential end date for the ongoing war with Iran, amid expectations of upcoming talks between the two sides, Israeli media reported on Monday.
April 9, the deadline for ending the war with Iran
“Washington has set April 9 as the target date for ending the war, leaving about 21 days for continued fighting and negotiations,” the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official, according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
In another report, an Israeli official told an Axios reporter that efforts are underway to bring together senior officials from both sides, including Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Vice President JD Vance potentially in attendance.
Mediating countries have been trying to convene a meeting in Islamabad — with Ghalibaf and other officials representing Tehran and Witkoff, Kushner and possibly Vice President Vance representing the U.S. — possibly later this week, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X.
Israeli media reports also indicate that Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with Ghalibaf, who emerged as a key decision-maker during the conflict.
LiveMint could not verify any of these developments.
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Earlier on Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a telephone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, stressed the urgent need for joint efforts for de-escalation in West Asia.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement that Sharif had conveyed to Pezeshkian his “serious concern” over the “dangerous ongoing hostilities in the Persian Gulf region”.
In view of this serious situation, the Prime Minister emphasized the urgent need to work collectively on de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy.
The crisis in West Asia began on February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran, sparking the conflict.
“Given this serious situation, the prime minister emphasized the urgent need to work collectively on de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy among all neighboring countries to settle their differences,” the statement said.
Four weeks of war
The war, now in its fourth week, has already seen several dramatic turning points – the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khameneithe bombing of a key Iranian gas field and attacks targeting oil and gas facilities and other civilian infrastructure in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.
The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people, rocked the global economy, driven up oil prices and threatened some of the world’s busiest air corridors.
