Pakistan is acting as a “sincere and honest mediator” between Iran and the United States, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in New York, confirming that diplomatic efforts toward a ceasefire remain alive despite an unpredictable turn of events.
Speaking to reporters at the United Nations headquarters, Sharif said Islamabad has not abandoned hope of brokering an end to hostilities between Washington and Tehran and remains “completely focused” on de-escalating the situation.
Islamabad Memorandum Anchors Mediation Effort
The prime minister pointed to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, an agreement he said was signed alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump. That framework, he indicated, forms the basis of Pakistan’s continued diplomatic outreach.
“Pakistan is playing the role of a sincere and honest mediator between Iran, our neighbourly country, and the United States,” Sharif told journalists. “Unfortunately, events after that got a bit unpredictable, but Pakistan is completely focused. We have not lost hope; we are absolutely determined that we will further make efforts and make progress to de-escalate the situation.”
Asked whether another round of talks is planned, Sharif described the process as a “conscious” one, noting that friendly countries are contributing to the push for peace. He added that Pakistan wants stability in the region and will keep playing its part to achieve it.
Development Agenda Tops UN Visit
Earlier, addressing a meeting at the UN headquarters marking the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, Sharif framed development as an inalienable right of all people. He said the declaration’s message, made four decades ago, was unambiguous: the purpose of development is not merely the accumulation of wealth but social progress and the protection of human dignity.
The prime minister also warned that mounting debt servicing across the developing world is squeezing financial capacity and undermining efforts to meet development goals.
- Pakistan positions itself as a mediator between Iran and the US.
- Sharif cites the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed with Pezeshkian and Trump.
- He says Pakistan has not lost hope and remains determined to de-escalate tensions.
- At the UN, he linked development progress to relieving debt burdens in the Global South.
Sharif’s remarks underscore Pakistan’s bid to carve out a diplomatic role in a conflict that has unsettled the wider Middle East, even as the prime minister acknowledged that the road since the memorandum’s signing has been anything but predictable.
