How Pakistan is trying hard to be a go-between for the US and Iran

On July 25, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. Secretary Rubio expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s continued willingness to play a constructive role in mediating conversations with Iran and its commitment to preserving regional stability. The two also discussed prospects for deepening bilateral counterterrorism cooperation, including countering Isis-Khorasan, and the upcoming US-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue in Islamabad this August. The Secretary underscored the importance of expanding mutually beneficial bilateral trade and exploring prospects for enhancing collaboration in the critical minerals and mining sectors.”

Rubio’s “appreciation of Pakistan’s continued willingness to play a constructive role in mediating conversations with Iran…” is most significant. It is an authoritative expression of US interest in using Pakistan in maintaining contacts or even as a conduit for discrete conversations with Iran. The Rubio-Dar meeting occurred a little over a month after the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Ispahan and Natanz on June 22.

Earlier, while Israel’s attacks on Iran and Iran’s counter missile attacks on Israel were taking place, President Donald Trump had hosted Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for an unprecedented two-hour-long luncheon meeting at the White House on June 18. It will be recalled that Israel’s attack on Iran began on June 13 and continued till June 24, when both countries agreed to a ceasefire.

The authoritative Pakistani newspaper Dawn recently reported in its edition of August 2, “Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had offered to play the role during his meeting with President Trump at the White House, days before US jets bombed Iranian nuclear sites.” Clearly, at that stage, the US did not take up the Pakistani offer because it was committed to damaging Iranian intentions to enrich uranium to nuclear weapon levels. The attack done, it now appears that the US wishes to use Pakistan to enable some kind of dialogue with Iran to occur; hence, the enthusiastic American State Department statement on the Rubio-Dar meeting.

The Iranians have till now not agreed to direct talks with the US. Hence, the need for an intermediary. This is not the first time Pakistan has acted as a go-between to facilitate contacts between the US and another country. In July 1971, when the Pakistani army was engaged in genocide in what was then East Pakistan, its generals enabled then US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to travel secretly to China from Pakistan. Earlier they had become a conduit for the US and China to exchange messages. Pakistan’s help to President Richard Nixon to open up China contributed to its anti-Indian stance all through 1971 and beyond. All this is a part of global diplomatic folklore.

With so much happening in the world, especially because of the tariffs being threatened to be imposed or in the process of being imposed by Trump on a host of countries, including India, Delhi’s strategic class has perhaps not devoted sufficient attention to the implications of what is transpiring between the US and Pakistan, inter alia, because of the Iranian factor.

Pakistani contacts with Iran have intensified at the highest levels. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Iran on May 26-27. He was accompanied by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. In Tehran he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to put forward Pakistan’s stand after India’s Operation Sindoor. It is noteworthy that Iran, after the Pahalgam terrorist attack, approached both India and Pakistan to cool the situation. This was not unusual because Iran has always sought to project that its historical relationship with the Indian subcontinent endows it with special credibility in Delhi and Islamabad to intercede when tensions between the two countries reach very high levels. It attempted to do so this time too.

Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi visited Pakistan on May 5 and publicly urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint. Clearly, India did not agree that he should travel directly from Islamabad to Delhi. This is because Iran has never inspired, whatever it may have thought or thinks now, much confidence in Delhi. So, he went back to Tehran and travelled to India from there. He held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on May 8. The two countries also convened the 20th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on the same date. India was obviously repudiating any attempt by Iran to intercede in its relations with Pakistan. Besides, Operation Sindoor was ongoing on that date.

Iranian President Pezeshkian visited Pakistan on August 2 and 3. This visit came barely two months after Shehbaz Sharif’s trip to Tehran. It is unusual for a leader to visit a country so soon after he has met the leader of the other country. Clearly,this visit was driven not by the Indo-Pakistani context, but by the evolving situation stemming from the Iran-Israel military conflict and the recent US strikes. Pakistan had strongly condemned the Israeli attack on Iran. It had also called the US action a violation of international law. Sharif had telephonically called Pezeshkian to condemn the US attack. It is ironic that Pakistan had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize just a day before the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said a day prior to Pezeshkian’s visit, “Iran is our close friend and a brotherly neighbouring country. We remain committed to making a positive contribution to bringing the tensions down and promoting diplomatic solutions to problems. We are open to playing that role, and we will continue to play that role.” Hence, while Iran and Pakistan wanted to use the visit to promote their bilateral ties, Khan’s comment reveals one of the prominent reasons for the visit.

Pezeshkian and Shehbaz Sharif made the usual noises about their countries ties: that they were bound by culture, history and faith. To emphasise its cultural aspects, the Iranian president began his trip to Pakistan by visiting Lahore and went to the grave of the poet Allama Iqbal, who is one of the founders of Pakistan’s ideology.

Iqbal’s main body of work was in Urdu, but it was customary for many Urdu poets to show that they could write excellent poetry in Persian too. Indeed, as Persian was the official language of a large part of India till it was replaced by English in 1835 by the East India Company, those who composed verse in Urdu were accorded a higher status if they could do so in Persian as well. Now all this is in the past, for Indo-Persianate culture has not only almost completely disappeared from India but also from Pakistan. However, the Iranians want to keep alive the illusion that their cultural influence continues in the subcontinent. This is a vain exercise.

Twelve Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during Pezeshkian’s visit to give an impetus to Pakistan-Iran ties. They include the energy sector. It is unlikely, though, that a breakthrough will be made in the early bilateral ties because both countries have differences on issues ranging from terrorism to faith—Pakistan is majority Sunni, while Iran is that bastion of Shia mazhab.

As the Tehran Times noted in its edition of August 4 on the two countries’ attempts to improve ties: “Nonetheless, major obstacles remain. The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is still more a matter of paperwork than reality. Past efforts to boost trade have collapsed under the weight of bureaucracy and third-party pressure. Border tensions and cross-border militancy in Balochistan persist. However, the two sides have now agreed to enhance intelligence sharing and joint counter-terror efforts. Whether this renewed commitment can withstand pressure will be tested in time.”

India’s foreign policy makers will have to keep a watch in the coming months on what is transpiring between Tehran and Islamabad bilaterally. However, their main attention should be on how the US is attempting to use Pakistan to get through to the Mullahs in Tehran and Qom and what price Trump is willing to pay Pakistan for acting as a go-between.

The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.