Pakistan minister heads to Tehran as Iran insists talks are purely bilateral
Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi will visit Tehran on Sunday for talks with Iranian leaders and officials at a time of heightened tensions in West Asia, according to media reports. The visit comes amid the US-Iran conflict and intensified fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis.
Iran said the visit will centre on bilateral ties and follow-up on earlier understandings between Islamabad and Tehran. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said there was no specific mediation message planned, even as Pakistan continues to play a role in efforts to revive stalled talks between Iran and the US.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that Baghaei described the visit as part of routine bilateral engagement. "The visit of Pakistan's interior minister is entirely within the framework of bilateral discussions," he was quoted as saying, adding that one of Pakistan's economic ministers might also accompany Naqvi.
The visit comes at a crucial time as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis has intensified. Saudi Arabia has carried out airstrikes against Houthi positions, while the Houthis have launched drone and missile attacks on Saudi territory. The situation has raised concerns over the security of Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping routes around the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which about 10 to 15 per cent of global maritime trade normally passes.
Pakistan has also been acting as a key mediator between Iran and the US to revive stalled negotiations. The two sides had signed an interim peace agreement in June, which Islamabad signed as a guarantor, but the process was disrupted in July after military escalation by both sides. The Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively remained blocked, remains the main sticking point. In peacetime, about a fifth of the world's energy supplies passed through this waterway.
According to The Express Tribune, Baghaei said Pakistan could use Naqvi's visit to raise regional issues, but there had been no discussion so far of the minister carrying any specific US message or proposal. The Nation reported that Baghaei said the main purpose of the visit was to follow up on previous understandings between Islamabad and Tehran, particularly decisions reached at the leadership level.
Naqvi is expected to meet senior Iranian officials during Sunday's visit, with bilateral relations and other issues of mutual interest on the agenda. The visit comes a day after Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by telephone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. During the call, Dar highlighted the importance of uninterrupted energy supplies and the safe and expeditious passage of ships, particularly because of their implications for developing countries and global supply chains.
Naqvi has made several official visits to Tehran in the past three months. During his last visit in August, he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Araghchi to discuss bilateral ties and efforts to revive the US-Iran dialogue. Pakistan's diplomatic efforts have taken on added importance after it signed a joint defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on August 7, under which an attack on any one of the three countries would effectively be considered an attack on all.
In sum, Naqvi's Tehran visit is being presented by Iran as a bilateral engagement, but it comes against the backdrop of rising regional tensions, disrupted US-Iran diplomacy and growing concern over energy supplies and key shipping routes.
