Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian leaders and officials, as Islamabad renewed its diplomatic push to ease tensions between Iran and the US amid a continuing standoff. The visit comes as Pakistan tries to revive an interim peace agreement between Washington and Tehran that was disrupted by renewed military escalation.
Along with bilateral issues, the talks are taking place against the backdrop of wider regional tensions, including concerns over energy supplies and key shipping routes. Diplomatic sources said Pakistan was using the visit to keep channels open and push for movement on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
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Naqvi was received by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni, Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported. “Exchanging views on bilateral relations and the provisions of the agreement between the two countries that has been signed by the high officials of both countries are among the goals of this trip,” IRNA said.
Pakistan is seeking to revive the interim peace agreement, termed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the US and Iran in June. The key sticking point remains the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which roughly a fifth of global energy supplies passed in peacetime and which effectively remains blocked. Pakistan had played a key role in facilitating the US-Iran negotiations that led to the interim agreement and had signed the MoU as a guarantor. Since then, Islamabad has sought to keep the diplomatic channel open.
Diplomatic sources familiar with Naqvi’s visit said that apart from bilateral matters, the ongoing regional tensions were the main focus of the talks. “Pakistan has been trying to revive the Islamabad MoU and the visit is part of those efforts,” one of them said.
Naqvi has made several visits to Tehran in recent months as part of Pakistan’s engagement with Iran. During his previous visit in August, he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Naqvi is also considered close to Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, and on several occasions his visits to Iran have been followed by visits by the Field Marshal.
The visit also comes as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis has intensified, with Saudi Arabia carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions and the group launching drone and missile attacks on Saudi territory. The situation has raised concerns over the security of Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping routes around the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which roughly 10 to 15 per cent of global maritime trade normally passes. On Saturday, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke to Araghchi by phone and stressed the importance of uninterrupted energy supplies and the safe and expeditious passage of ships, particularly because of their implications for developing countries and global supply chains. Overall, Naqvi’s Tehran visit combines bilateral engagement with Pakistan’s efforts to revive the US-Iran understanding and address wider regional tensions affecting energy and trade routes.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
