March 24 (UPI) — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan said Tuesday that Islamabad “stands ready” to facilitate peace talks between the United States and Iran, as the war nears a month old.
“Pakistan stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he said in a statement on X, tagging Trump, Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghci.
In a potential signal of agreement, Trump posted a screenshot of Sharif’s post to his own Truth Social platform.
Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that negotiations with Tehran were ongoing, involving Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and “a number” of other officials.
“I can tell you they’d like to make a deal. And who wouldn’t if you were them?” he said.
“We are roaming free over Tehran,” he added. “We’re roaming free. We can do whatever we want.”
The extent of the negotiations were unclear. While Trump said his about turn from vowing to continue bombing Iran to wanting to talk was due to the Iranians “talking sense” and that “they’ve agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon” in those negotiations, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, was adamant Monday that there were no discussions.
“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” he said on X.
“No negotiations have been held with the U.S., and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”
Pakistani officials on Tuesday also said they’re prepared to host negotiations, with in-person meetings possibly set to take place in Islamabad.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told Al Jazeera that Islamabad would be willing to play a part in the talks “if the parties desire.”
The government “has consistently advocated for dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the region,” Andrabi said.
Unnamed Pakistani sources told The Guardian that Vance would potentially serve as chief U.S. negotiator if such talks went forward. Iranian officials have said they will not speak Trump’s pre-war negotiators, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner.
Witkoff and Kushner met with Iranian officials in the month leading up to the war in an attempt to reach a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. The talks were unfruitful and Trump ordered the launch of attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 alongside Israel.
In nearly a month, the war has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced millions of others, NBC News reported.
Trump said Monday that he hopes there will be an agreement with Iran amid renewed talks, which Iranian state-run media have denied have taken place. The U.S. president said he’s holding off on strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days after “very good and productive conversations.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.