It took Pakistani mediators months of relentless negotiations, travelling, passing messages, and even enduring blowback from the UAE—one of its oldest and most trusted allies in the region—to carve out an agreement that was acceptable to both the United States and Iran. Pakistan remained constantly engaged with the two parties, even when missiles were being fired at each other. People said Pakistan would be forced into a war with Iran because of its mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia. Pakistan instead used that leverage to lower tensions between the Saudis and Iranians at a time when the IRGC was literally targeting Saudi oil facilities.
Some suggested that Pakistan might let the US use its soil for a ground invasion of Iran. Pakistan’s response was a flat refusal. Two of Pakistan’s closest allies in the region—Turkey and Azerbaijan—were attacked by Iran. Pakistan advised patience and diplomacy. Not taking any credit away from them, Turkey and Azerbaijan understood their interests better than anyone else in the region. These are actually the only two countries, other than Pakistan, that have fought and are capable of fighting wars. They understand geopolitics better than many of Pakistan’s other allies in the region.
It must also be acknowledged that diplomacy of this magnitude is rarely the work of a single country. Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia all played constructive roles in preventing the crisis from spiralling further out of control. Qatar, in particular, remained unwavering in its support for the Pakistan-led mediation effort and consistently backed every serious attempt to keep channels of communication open. Saudi Arabia deserves appreciation for the patience and restraint it demonstrated throughout a period when emotions across the region were running high. Whatever disagreements may exist over who deserves the most credit, bringing the war to an end required cooperation from multiple regional actors, and all those who worked towards de-escalation deserve recognition.
It therefore pains us as Pakistanis when we see people, whose bills are paid by the governments of our brotherly countries, sharing Indian propaganda on their X handles to prove that their paymasters—not Pakistan—were the ones who brought the deal together. That they, despite hosting military bases on their soil and allowing those bases, their airspace, and other facilities to be used by the Americans, somehow enjoyed more credibility with the Iranians than Pakistan.
"Qatar’s mediators arrived with three advantages Pakistan could not match quickly: credibility with Tehran, steady lines into the US policymaking orbit, and diplomatic tradecraft honed in protracted, sensitive negotiations"https://t.co/LSrXJp9pIZ
— Dr Andreas Krieg (@andreas_krieg) June 17, 2026
These people refuse to see how Pakistan has suffered since 2015 for not sending its army to the Yemen theatre because Pakistan did not want to risk becoming involved in an intra-Muslim conflict. The UAE had promised to teach Pakistan a lesson then. That was more than a decade ago. Yet somehow, parties to that conflict—one that involved Iran quite directly—think they enjoyed more credibility with the Iranians than Pakistan. That is astounding, to say the least.
For decades, the Pakistani embassy in Washington DC has maintained a designated Iran’s Interests Section, as the US refuses to allow an Iranian embassy on its soil.
Pakistan is home to the largest Shia population in the world after Iran. In a normal world, that should not mean much. But when it comes to a country that functions under a system called ‘Wilayat-e-Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurist)’, where sect and religion are central to both its political identity and the functioning of its administration, it does matter for a country that shares a 909-km border with that entity.
Pakistan has been consistent on Israel for longer than Iran. Iran, under the Shah, recognised Israel in 1950, becoming only the second Muslim-majority country in the world—after Atatürk’s Turkey—to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Pakistan, on the other hand, has withstood all pressure during the last 80 years to soften its stance on Israel. Even on the eve of the initiation of the Islamabad process, it was Pakistan’s defence minister who came out openly against Israel—calling it “an evil, a curse for humanity”—to make it clear to both the Israelis and the Americans that Pakistan would not entertain any requests to consider becoming part of the Abraham Accords.
Pakistan and Iran are tied at the hip. Pakistan’s interests are more closely aligned with Iran than with any other country in the region claiming to have more leverage. Those in the know have been saying for months that Pakistan would not let the Islamic Republic fall and allow the Israelis to establish a base at its doorstep. Pakistan pushed the Americans out in 2012 because it did not need CIA listening posts in its backyard. The policy hasn’t changed.
Pakistan is China’s closest ally. Closer than Iran, which spent years pursuing Russian fighters while repeatedly delaying the acquisition of Chinese aircraft. Pakistan knows that its nuclear capability is threatened by Israelis, Indians, and Americans alike. Pakistan has a restive province by the name of Balochistan, a part of which lies on the other side of the Iran-Pakistan border. Israel’s MEMRI has a research project by the name of Balochsitan Studies Project, and it employs a dummy X account by the name of Mir Yar Baloch as a Special Advisor. On February 28, when Israel attacked Iran, its prime minister called on all ethnic groups in Iran to rise up against the “yoke of tyranny”. One of those groups was the Baloch.
Pakistan, therefore, enjoyed more credibility in Iran than all these other countries combined. Pakistan refused to offer its soil or airspace for attacks on Iran. It was Pakistan’s military and political leadership that first opened the peace dialogue with the Iranians, back when the Arabs were angry that they were being retaliated against despite their honey-tongued press releases urging “calm on both sides”.
And just to add to this the national sentiment about this war: on April 1, Dawn newspaper published a story according to which the Iranian rial’s value had increased fourfold against the Pakistani rupee during the month of March. This was well before the ceasefire was announced. About the time when the White House was threatening to wipe out a whole civilisation “never to be brought back again”. Pakistan believed in Iran when it was facing threats of nuclear annihilation. No amount of Indian propaganda amplified by gora orientalists can take that credit away.