Pakistan is pressing US and Iran to resume talks despite lingering mistrust: UN envoy

Pakistan is urging the US and Iran to return to negotiations under an agreement brokered by Islamabad, despite a “lingering lack of trust on both sides” that has prevented the deal from being implemented, said Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN.

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad made the remarks in an interview published Thursday by The National, an English-language daily newspaper based in Abu Dhabi.

The Islamabad Memorandum, signed in June following mediation by Pakistan and Qatar, called for an end to hostilities, a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent end to the conflict, and arrangements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

Iran has accused the US of failing to implement key provisions, including those related to sanctions and a US naval blockade. Washington and Gulf countries meanwhile have called for free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

There is also "a slight lack of willingness" to implement the memorandum, but Pakistan is "persisting," Ahmad said.

"We have open lines of communication with both parties, with both Iran and the US, and at high levels," he added.

"We believe that the best way to resolve the situation and to conclude a comprehensive and conclusive deal is to return to the negotiations table, and for that we have a framework in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. Everything is there. They need to return … and I hope that they will realize this soon."

Asked which side was reluctant to resume negotiations, the envoy said it was "not as simple as that" to determine who was more responsible or unwilling to return to the talks.

However, he expressed hope that the two sides could return to negotiations despite the difficulties.

“If we were able to pull this off, if we were able to get a ceasefire announced in April, in the midst of heavy fighting and an continuing escalation, and then we were able to bring them together, and then we, you know, led the two parties to this memorandum of understanding, there is no reason that we cannot again bring them back to the table,” he said.

Ahmad said Pakistan remained convinced that renewed negotiations offer the only sustainable path out of the confrontation.

On Gaza, the Pakistani envoy warned that Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank are threatening the prospect of an eventual Palestinian state and said the international community must take a stronger stand.

"The Gaza plan is not being implemented in full. To begin with, the first point was a ceasefire, and the ceasefire is not being respected," he said. "You see that there are continuing violations, particularly by the Israeli side, and hundreds of people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced."

Ahmad was also appointed as the 34th Foreign Secretary of Pakistan on Thursday, succeeding Amna Baloch.