Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is set to arrive in Tehran today, Saturday, to advance Islamabad’s diplomatic mediation efforts aimed at breaking the stalemate in peace negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iranian state media has indicated.
This unannounced trip is a direct continuation of Pakistan’s ongoing high-level facilitation efforts, following a series of swift backchannel engagements over recent months designed to maintain a fragile regional ceasefire and seek a lasting resolution to hostilities.
In a significant development, the visit comes less than 24 hours after Naqvi met with his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Interior Ministers’ meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. During their bilateral talks on Friday, both officials stressed the importance of sustained diplomatic dialogue to secure long-term stability in the region.
The meeting in Bishkek marked their second encounter within two days, highlighting an intensification of high-level communications. Islamabad has increasingly positioned itself as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran, having previously hosted senior delegations from both sides to keep backchannel discussions alive despite significant policy differences.
This will be Naqvi’s third crucial visit to Tehran in recent weeks, following extensive consultations in mid-May where he and senior Pakistani security officials met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other top leaders. Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts have concentrated on managing the security repercussions of prior regional military escalations and seeking compromise on contentious issues such as long-term nuclear enrichment restrictions and sanctions relief.
Although Islamabad has not officially disclosed details of Naqvi’s itinerary for Saturday, diplomatic analysts note that the discreet nature of the visit underscores the sensitivity of the ongoing negotiations. Naqvi is expected to present revised proposals aimed at bridging the divide between Iran and the US, thereby preventing a breakdown of the current de-escalation framework.