Mohsin Naqvi says Pakistan kept pursuing US-Iran mediation at Doha forum
Pakistan’s interior minister described earlier talks and credited military and Qatari leaders, as a Qatari official warned of continuing energy risks from the conflict.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, said at the Global Security Forum in Doha on October 19 that his country had persisted in efforts to ease tensions between the United States and Iran, according to Dawn. His account put Pakistan’s mediation role in focus as officials at the Qatar gathering discussed the conflict’s continuing regional and energy risks.
Naqvi said Pakistan had made ‘every possible effort to reduce tensions’ during what he described as difficult months for the region. ‘There were moments when the situation was extremely tense, but we never gave up,’ he said, according to Dawn. He said the conflict had created risks beyond the Middle East.
Naqvi’s account of the mediation talks
Naqvi singled out Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defence forces and army chief, for what he called a ‘remarkable role’ in efforts to reduce tensions. Dawn reported that Naqvi had made several trips to Iran since the war began.
Looking back at the talks, Naqvi recalled a June 18 signing of what he called the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States. He said it was followed by a Lake Lucerne summit in Switzerland organised by Pakistan and Qatar as mediators. These details are Naqvi’s account of the earlier diplomacy.
Naqvi said Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Munir worked for more than 16 hours without a break at the summit. Their aim, he said, was to ‘stop further conflict’. He did not describe an agreement emerging from that meeting in Dawn’s account of his remarks.
Qatar raises energy risks at the Doha forum
At the same forum, Qatar’s deputy prime minister, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, warned of threats to sovereignty and energy supplies, Al Jazeera reported. He expressed hope that mediation involving Qatar, Pakistan and Oman would help produce an agreement between the United States, Iran and other parties, including Israel.
Al Jazeera reported that instability in the Strait of Hormuz, a route for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has continued since the February 28 US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes. Iranian strikes damaged Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial complex in March, with repairs expected to take several years. Sheikh Saoud also said Qatar planned to announce a regional defence partnership, but did not name its prospective partners.
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Sources and context
- 'We never gave up': Naqvi highlights Pakistan's peace efforts in US-Iran war at Qatar forumDawn
- Qatar warns global energy shockwaves from Iran war have yet to peakAl Jazeera
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.