Pakistan said on Sunday it was preparing to host "meaningful talks" to end the conflict over Iran in the coming days, even though Tehran said it is ready to respond if the United States moves in with soldiers on the ground. Pakistan's Foreign Minister indicated the prospect of potential talks between the US and Iran to de-escalate the ongoing war, underlining that both countries have expressed their "confidence" in Islamabad to facilitate their talks.
Ishaq Dar made these remarks while addressing the media after holding the quadrilateral consultations with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkiye.
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The leaders also discussed ways to bring an "early and permanent end to the war" in the region as they held consultations on the West Asia conflict. After the quadrilateral consultations, Dar also briefed the visiting dignitaries on the prospects of potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.
"The visiting foreign ministers expressed their fullest support to this initiative," he said.
Iran and US expressed confidence in Pakistan hosting talks: Dar claims
"In this context, Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate their talks. Pakistan will be honoured to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the coming days for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict," he added.
He said that the foreign ministers "reaffirmed unity to contain the situation, reduce the risks of military escalation and create conditions for structured negotiations between relevant parties".
It was the second meeting of consultations among the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt, following the first meeting held in Riyadh on March 19. Dar said that the four foreign ministers had a very detailed and in-depth discussion on the current regional situation. "We also discussed possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region," he said.
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Pakistan, along with Turkiye and Egypt, is making efforts to bring the US and Iran to the negotiating table, but so far without any success. But officials are keeping fingers crossed for such a meeting in the coming week.
Shehbaz assures 'shoulder to shoulder support' to Saudi
The foreign minister also said he had held "very productive" bilateral meetings with the three foreign ministers, who also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
"While reaffirming Pakistan's full and unwavering solidarity and support with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister appreciated the remarkable restraint exercised by Saudi Arabia amid the current crisis and assured the Saudi Foreign Minister that Pakistan would always stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia," according to the statement.
(With inputs from agency)