 "Foreign Ministers Badr Abdelatty of Egypt, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Ishaq Dar of Pakistan and Hakan Fidan of Turkey meet to discuss regional de-escalation, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: Reuters")
Pakistan on Sunday hosted talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of its efforts to bring the Iranian war to an end. The initial discussions focused on proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.
According to a report in Reuters, the four countries have floated a proposal to the United States with primary focus on the reopening of Strait of Hormuz. This is significant as the effective blockade of the strait has brought the global crude supply to a halt, which in turn has led to global economic uncertainty.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic route from where about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passes, but Iran has effectively halted shipping flows through it in response to the US and Israeli strikes that began on February 28.
Reopening Hormuz
Pakistan has tried to leverage its close ties with both Tehran and Washington to emerge as a key diplomatic channel in the conflict, with Ankara and Cairo also playing a similar role.
A source from Pakistan said proposals, including from Egypt, had been forwarded to the White House by the countries before Sunday’s meeting and that they included Suez Canal-style fee structures, according to the report.
According to an another proposal, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could form a consortium to manage oil flows through the waterway. The report says that the three countries have asked Pakistan to participate in it. The first Pakistani source said Islamabad had not been formally asked to join and maintains that it will not.
As per the report, the proposal for a management consortium had been discussed with the US and Iran. Some reports suggest that the country’s army chief Asim Munir had been in regular contact with US Vice President JD Vance.
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View AllA Turkish diplomatic source said “Ankara’s priority was securing a ceasefire”, as quoted by Reuters.
”Ensuring the safe passage of ships could serve as an important confidence-building measure in this regard,” the person said.
Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate one-on-one meetings with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, stressing dialogue and sustained diplomatic engagement, the foreign office said.
Separately, Dar said in a post on X that Iran had agreed to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
(with inputs from agencies)