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p Mohsin Naqvi meets Pezeshkian and Araghchi in Tehranbr Khawaja Asif says warring sides nearing some sort of an arrangementbr Tehran sees Islamabad MoU as only legitimate framework for resolution of wider warbr Trump rails against devious Iranian negotiators/p pISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Tuesday to follow up on the stalled a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2016487"Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding /a(MoU), as Islamabad seeks to revive its mediation efforts between Iran and the United States./p pNaqvi, who arrived in Tehran earlier in the day, was received by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni, and later held talks with Araghchi. The two interior ministers are also expected to hold detailed bilateral discussions during the visit./p pA diplomatic source told emDawn/em from Tehran that the principal objective of Naqvis visit was to follow up on the Islamabad MoU and Pakistans mediation between Iran and the US, which has remained largely dormant as Oman took the lead in negotiations over arrangements for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/2087279134947115359"/a /blockquote pThe reported progress ina href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022142/qatar-says-iran-oman-talks-on-hormuz-reached-advanced-stage" Oman-Iran dialogue /ahas created an opportunity for Islamabad to move for reviving the broader process that had emerged from the June agreement./p pSeparately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asifa href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022152/us-and-iran-are-close-to-some-sort-of-arrangement-defence-minister-khawaja-asif-tells-bloomberg" told/a emBloomberg/em that the United States and Iran are close to some sort of an arrangement./p pThings are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal. The signals over the last three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement, he added./p pstrongDiplomatic efforts/strong/p pPakistan had recently invited Araghchi and Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf to visit Islamabad at the earliest possible opportunity. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, however, said on Monday that the visit of the two Iranian leaders would take place at an appropriate time./p pNaqvis visit assumes significance as an effort to keep Pakistans mediation channel active rather than wait for the Iranian leadership to visit Islamabad./p pThe Persian Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, remains locked in a fragile no war, no peace situation following the collapse of Islamabad MoU reached between Iran and the US in June./p pIn his meeting with the Iranian president, Naqvi described the relationship between the neighbours as strong, long-standing and unbreakable and conveyed Islamabads serious determination and will to pursue the comprehensive development of ties with Tehran./p pPresident Pezeshkian also noted that Iran-Pakistan relations would serve the two countries national interests as well as contribute to regional stability and security./p pThe emphasis on bilateral ties came days after Pakistan a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed/a a trilateral defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, an arrangement Islamabad has repeatedly stressed is defensive in nature and not directed against any country./p pOn Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021935"spoke /awith his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and shared the contours of the agreement, underscoring its objectives of strengthening strategic cooperation and contributing to regional peace and security./p pstrongHormuz future/strong/p pThe disagreement over the future management of the waterway had emerged as one of the principal fault lines in the implementation of the agreement and contributed to the subsequent escalation./p pIran and Oman have since been negotiating a new arrangement for safe passage through the strait, with the talks focused on a possible new shipping route and mechanisms for its management. Tehran, however, has maintained that an understanding with Oman would constitute only a technical or first stage arrangement and would not by itself amount to a full reopening of the waterway./p pIran is adamant that it will reopen the strait only after US has redressed all alleged violations of Islamabad MoU./p pAccording to the diplomatic source, Irans position conveyed to foreign capitals remains that full reopening of Hormuz is linked to implementation of the Islamabad MoU by US./p pIran, the source said, has insisted that the MoU, having been concluded at the presidential level, remains the only legitimate framework for resolving the wider dispute and should be implemented in the form in which it was signed rather than renegotiated through selective reinterpretation./p pThe source said Tehran was also seeking evidence of US political willingness to restore the process before moving towards what he described as the next phase leading to reopening of Hormuz. Iran, he said, wants concrete and verifiable assurances rather than verbal commitments, particularly on whether Washington is prepared to return to its obligations under the MoU./p pstrongTrump rails against devious negotiators/strong/p pMeanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Tuesdaya href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022165/trump-calls-iran-devious-negotiators-dishonest-people" described /aIrans negotiators as devious and dishonest./p pTheyre very devious negotiators because theyll agree to something, then theyll go out and tell the press that they never agreed to it. Theyre very dishonest people, he said in an interview with US outlet emReal Americas Voice./em/p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2087173715893047674?ref_srctwsrc5Etfw7Ctwcamp5Etweetembed7Ctwterm5E20871737158930476747Ctwgr5Ec1df016c4e28b717565f54b178332fbc586f0a337Ctwcon5Es1_ref_urlhttps3A2F2Fwww.dawn.com2Fnews2F2022165"/a /blockquote pHe added that Irans economic situation and inflation was unsustainable, suggesting that the US could either wait and just keep that going, or hit them really, really hard./p pThe third option, he said, was to beat them economically but were doing that anyway./p pHe claimed that Iran was economically a mess, saying: They cant borrow money. We control their money they had a lot, and we have total control Im their banker./p pemPublished in Dawn, August 12th, 2026/em/p

Source: Dawn News

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