Pakistan said yesterday the United States and Iran were close to “some sort” of deal despite reports of new attacks on shipping in regional waters.
The comments offered some hope that Iran and the US can end a stalemate that has in effect blocked the vital waterway, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war. Prospects for a deal had appeared to dim on Monday after the sides’ latest remarks and demands.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: “Things are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal.”
“The signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran yesterday, Araghchi’s Telegram channel said, without providing further details.
Pakistan and Qatar have been the main mediators in the conflict in which thousands have been killed — mainly in Iran and Lebanon — since US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.