US-Iran negotiations ongoing under framework of Islamabad MoU: FO

• Foreign Office urges parties to resume technical-level talks.
• Gulf security situation remains precarious: Tahir Andrabi.
• Pakistan calls for maximum restraint amid regional tensions.
  

Pakistan on Thursday said that negotiations between the United States and Iran were ongoing to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf region, emphasising that the Islamabad MoU and the Pakistan-Qatar joint statement continued to serve as the vital framework for a durable peace process.

“Amid the prevailing tensions and hostilities, Pakistan reiterates that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path forward… We are doing our utmost to bring the parties back to the Islamabad MoU,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at a weekly press briefing.

“We encourage the parties to exercise maximum restraint and fully adhere to their commitment to resume technical-level talks,” he added.

He said that despite a relative calm over the past few days, the overall security situation in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remained precarious, and that the attacks, particularly from non-state actors against Saudi Arabia, were utterly condemnable.

“We remain hopeful for de-escalation and peaceful settlement of issues. We also remain hopeful that the parties will return to technical-level talks,” he said.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the foreign ministry and all relevant institutions are fully geared to handle all these nuances, and Pakistan could play its role smoothly with all the diplomatic and strategic tools.

Pakistan had helped to broker a deal between the warring sides, laying the groundwork for negotiations on a permanent resolution.

Previous talks between the two parties following an April truce stalled, with the ceasefire collapsing earlier this month and Iran again slamming shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Middle Eastern oil and gas.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that two oil tankers attempting to transit the strait with US support turned back after one of them caught fire.

Earlier, the US military said it had “successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran”, hitting dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets including military command centres.

The Guards’ branch in the northwestern province of Zanjan said three of its members were killed in a US attack there.

Iran’s state news agency Irnaalso reported hits on several cities in the southwestern Khuzestan province, as well as on Qeshm island in the Gulf.

The Jordanian army reported a new volley of Iranian missiles on Thursday morning, saying five had been shot down, causing no casualties.

In a statement, the Guards confirmed the attack, saying the US “used the occupied bases in your country (Jordan) to launch an airstrike” that killed local residents in Qeshm.

Kuwaiti defence ministry, meanwhile, denounced a “heinous” Iranian attack that “targeted a building belonging to a Chinese company in the north of the country, resulting in the death of one worker and causing severe material damage”.