Pakistan ready to mediate U.S.-Iran talks, but Dar unlikely to attend this year

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider said Friday that Islamabad was ready to resume mediation between the United States and Iran if needed. He said discussions on seven points were continuing and that Washington’s position had been shared. He announced no new meeting and did not say Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would attend one. Traders still see Dar’s participation in qualifying U.S.-Iran talks as unlikely this year.

Expectations of Dar attending have recovered from a low on October 8, but the reason for the latest rise is not clear. The odds climbed sharply on October 2 after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended dialogue and Axios reported that U.S. envoys still considered diplomacy worth pursuing. They then fell through October 8, before rebounding on October 9. The latest recovery has not made Dar’s attendance likely.

The diplomatic channel has remained open but uncertain. Pakistan’s mediation previously included direct talks in Islamabad in April and an interim U.S.-Iran agreement in June, which later collapsed. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month it was encouraging dialogue; President Donald Trump also described discussions as productive, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had received a U.S. counterproposal. Those developments did not announce a new round involving Dar. His September meeting with Araghchi also did not include a U.S. representative.

Araghchi said on October 8 that Iran expected to give a formal response to the U.S. counterproposal within days, according to The Associated Press. No date for a new round has been reported. A response could keep diplomacy moving, but Dar’s participation would require him to be physically present and actively take part in a senior-level, in-person process involving authorized representatives of both governments. Any qualifying meeting would need public acknowledgment from either government or corroboration by credible media.