Pakistan army ‘cautiously optimistic’ about US-Iran mediation efforts

Pakistan’s military spokesman warns of ‘powerful spoilers and detractors’ who still believe the conflict serves them.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, second left, shaking hands with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir after a meeting with the Saudi defence minister and the Turkish intelligence chief in Tehran on Friday [Iranian presidency handout/AFP]

Pakistan says its army is “cautiously optimistic” ⁠about mediation between Iran and the United States as regional countries seek to revive a ceasefire in the eight-month-old war.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesman for Pakistan’s military, suggested on Friday that there were positive signs in attempts to de-escalate the conflict. His comments to the Reuters news agency were the first since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week.

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Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief mediator, has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday, alongside Saudi and Turkish officials.

“Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course,” Chaudhry said when asked whether the trips were a positive ⁠sign.

“The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” added Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations.

He also warned that there are parties seeking to obstruct mediation between the US and Iran.

There are still “powerful spoilers and detractors” who believe conflict serves them, he added without naming them.

Speaking in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Pakistan’s armed forces are headquartered, Chaudhry declined to say what was discussed in Tehran or whether the US had backed the trip.

His comments on Friday came as Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran in another apparent bid to negotiate a revival of the June ceasefire that collapsed months later.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin joined Pakistan’s Munir in ‌Tehran on Monday.

Their two countries signed a joint defence pact with Pakistan on August 7, saying an attack on any signatory will be treated as an attack on all.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement has taken on added significance as the Iran war has redrawn regional alliances and raised fears of a broader Middle East conflict.

While the three signatories say the agreement is aimed at collective deterrence and regional security, analysts see its evolution as closely tied to efforts by regional powers to manage the fallout from the Iran-US confrontation.

After Monday’s talks, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said regional security should be ensured by regional countries without foreign intervention.

The wording of the pact does not bar new ⁠members, Chaudhry said on Friday when asked whether Iran could join.

“Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence ⁠and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome,” he said, adding that it was for the political leadership of the three principal parties to decide.

Asked whether more Pakistani troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, Chaudhry said that would depend on the situation and the decision of both countries’ political leadership.

He said Pakistan was committed to defending Saudi ⁠Arabia and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. “We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict,” he added.

Fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has been reignited by the Iran ⁠conflict, stoking fears of a wider war.

巴基斯坦军方发言人警告说，仍有“强大的破坏者和诋毁者”认为这场冲突对他们有利。

伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安（左二）周五在德黑兰与沙特国防部长和土耳其情报局长会晤后，与巴基斯坦陆军参谋长阿西姆·穆尼尔握手。[伊朗总统府供图/法新社]

巴基斯坦表示，其军队对伊朗和美国之间的调解持“谨慎乐观”态度，因为地区各国正寻求恢复这场持续八个月的战争的停火。

巴基斯坦军方发言人艾哈迈德·谢里夫·乔杜里中将周五表示，缓和冲突的努力出现了一些积极迹象。这是自本周高级代表团访问德黑兰以来，他首次就此发表讲话。

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公布三名卡塔尔驻伊朗官员中的两名名单，试图恢复与美国的停火协议

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巴基斯坦首席调解人、陆军参谋长阿西姆·穆尼尔元帅本月已两次访问德黑兰，最近一次是在周一，与他同行的还有沙特和土耳其官员。

“如果不是因为一些积极因素，元帅为什么要去两次呢？所以，当然是的，”当被问及这些访问是否是一个积极的信号时，乔杜里说道。

“我们始终会用谨慎乐观来形容这种态度，”三军公共关系部总干事乔杜里补充道。

他还警告说，有人试图阻挠美国和伊朗之间的调解。

他还补充说，仍然有一些“强大的破坏者和诋毁者”认为冲突对他们有利，但他没有指名道姓。

乔杜里在巴基斯坦武装部队总部所在地拉瓦尔品第驻军城市发表讲话时，拒绝透露在德黑兰讨论了什么，也拒绝透露美国是否支持此次访问。

他周五发表上述言论之际，卡塔尔调解员抵达德黑兰，显然是再次尝试谈判恢复6月份达成的停火协议，该协议在几个月后破裂。

沙特国防大臣哈立德·本·萨勒曼亲王和土耳其情报局长易卜拉欣·卡林周一在德黑兰与巴基斯坦国防部长穆尼尔会面。

8月7日，两国与巴基斯坦签署了联合防御条约，条约规定对任何一个签署国的攻击都将被视为对所有签署国的攻击。

随着伊朗战争重塑地区联盟格局，并引发人们对中东地区更大规模冲突的担忧，《麦加联合防御协议》的重要性日益凸显。

虽然三个签署国表示该协议旨在实现集体威慑和地区安全，但分析人士认为，该协议的演变与地区大国为应对伊朗-美国对抗的后果所做的努力密切相关。

周一会谈结束后，伊朗最高国家安全委员会秘书莫森·雷扎伊表示，地区安全应该由地区国家在不受外国干预的情况下予以保障。

乔杜里周五在被问及伊朗是否可以加入时表示，该协议的措辞并未禁止新成员加入。

“任何对集体威慑和地区和平有共同愿景的人，为什么不呢？我们热烈欢迎所有人，”他说道，并补充说，这应由三大主要政党的政治领导人来决定。

当被问及是否会根据协议向沙特阿拉伯派遣更多巴基斯坦军队时，乔杜里表示，这将取决于局势和两国政治领导人的决定。

他表示，巴基斯坦致力于保卫沙特阿拉伯以及麦加和麦地那的圣地。“我们不参与也门冲突，那是也门内部冲突，”他补充道。

沙特阿拉伯与也门伊朗支持的胡塞武装之间的战斗因伊朗冲突而再次爆发，加剧了人们对战争规模扩大的担忧。