Pakistan works the phones to salvage US-Iran diplomacy as strikes bury the Islamabad understanding

Verified key facts

• Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone with Iran's Abbas Araghchi, urging de-escalation and restraint, Dawn reported.
• Dar said dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path, invoking the Islamabad MOU agreed in June 2026.
• Iranian spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said mediators including Pakistan, Qatar and Oman remain engaged despite renewed fighting.
• Indirect US-Iran talks in Doha ended on July 1 without headway, and the US reimposed its naval blockade on Iranian ports and launched more strikes on July 14, per Al Jazeera.
• Oman has drafted a proposal to manage traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key sticking point, and Araghchi visited Muscat on Saturday.

What happened

As American bombs fell on Iranian ports this week, Pakistan kept dialling. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, pressing for de-escalation. Dawn reported that Dar called for restraint amid the latest attacks in the Middle East.

Dar's message was pointed. He urged the parties to follow the path of de-escalation agreed in the Islamabad memorandum of understanding in June 2026, according to Pakistan's foreign ministry. He underscored that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving disputes and achieving lasting peace, the Express Tribune reported.

Tehran says the mediators have not given up. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters that intermediaries, including Pakistan, Qatar and Oman, remained engaged and were continuing their efforts, Al Jazeera reported on July 14.

The call was one of several contacts between the two ministers since the crisis erupted. Both sides agreed to remain in close contact as events develop, according to readouts from Islamabad and Tehran. Araghchi briefed Dar on Iran's assessment of the American strikes, Iranian state media reported.

A mediation lifeline under bombardment

The diplomatic track is battered. Indirect US-Iran talks in Doha ended on July 1 with no sign of headway. Since then, Washington has resumed strikes on Iranian territory and reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran has hit back at Gulf states hosting US assets, deepening the crisis the mediators are trying to contain.

Yet the shuttle diplomacy continues. Araghchi travelled to Muscat on Saturday to meet his Omani counterpart. Oman has drafted a proposal to manage traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the conflict's central sticking points, according to a source cited in regional reporting. Middle East Eye reported that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also discussed US-Iran mediation efforts in Doha.

Qatar's role remains central despite the failed round. Doha hosted the indirect talks and retains working channels to both capitals. According to an AP report cited by regional outlets, Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt have held a fresh round of consultations aimed at easing US-Iran tension.

Why Pakistan is in the room

Pakistan brings assets few others combine. It shares a roughly 900-kilometre border with Iran, hosts deep ties with Gulf capitals, and maintains a working military relationship with Washington. Al Jazeera's analysis asked whether Islamabad can bring the two sides back to talks precisely because both still take its calls.

Islamabad also has urgent reasons to try. A wider war would send refugees and instability across its Balochistan border, where security forces already face insurgent violence. Fuel prices and remittances from Pakistani workers in the Gulf are equally exposed. Mediation is both a prestige play and self-protection.

History gives Islamabad practice at this role. Pakistan quietly brokered contacts between Washington and Beijing in 1971, opening the door to Nixon's China visit. It has balanced ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran through repeated Gulf crises since, declining to send troops against either neighbour.

There are limits to Pakistan's leverage. It cannot deliver Iranian concessions on its nuclear programme or American flexibility on the blockade. Its value lies in keeping a channel open when formal talks collapse, alongside Qatar's financial weight and Oman's trusted-broker history.

The view from New Delhi

India watches Pakistan's diplomatic moment with mixed feelings. A Pakistan seen as indispensable in Gulf crisis management gains standing in Washington and Riyadh, capitals where India also invests heavily. Indian strategists will parse whether that translates into leverage on issues closer to home.

On the substance, though, Indian and Pakistani interests briefly align. Both economies depend on Gulf energy, both have millions of workers in the region, and both need Hormuz open. De-escalation, whoever brokers it, serves New Delhi. India has separately urged dialogue while managing the fallout for its shipping and energy imports.

New Delhi also has direct Iran equities to protect. India built and operates a terminal at Iran's Chabahar port, its gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypasses Pakistan. A long war, or sweeping new sanctions, would freeze that investment and hand the regional connectivity race to rivals.

What happens next

The mediators' immediate goal is modest: restore a pause long enough to restart indirect talks. Oman's Hormuz traffic proposal offers one possible face-saving mechanism. Washington's demand remains Tehran's return to negotiations; Tehran wants strikes and the blockade halted first.

Gulf states hold quiet leverage of their own. The UAE and Bahrain, both struck this week, host American forces yet fear becoming permanent battlefields. Their pressure on Washington for de-escalation may prove as consequential as any mediator's draft proposal.

• Watch whether the Islamabad MOU framework is revived or formally abandoned in the coming days.
• Watch for a new round of indirect talks in Doha or Muscat, and who attends.
• Watch Pakistan's balancing act if US pressure on Iran's partners intensifies.

For now, Pakistan's phones-and-patience diplomacy is one of the few functioning channels left. Whether it can outpace the bombing is the question hanging over the region's most dangerous crisis in years.

Sources

• Al Jazeera - With US-Iran trust broken again, can Pakistan bring them back to talks? (14 July 2026)
• Dawn - Dar holds phone call with Iranian FM amid latest attacks in Mideast, calls for de-escalation (July 2026)
• The Express Tribune - Dar urges restraint, diplomacy in call with Iranian counterpart (July 2026)
• Middle East Eye - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia call to discuss US-Iran mediation in Doha (July 2026)