In a week of diplomatic whiplash, US President Donald Trump announced his envoys would not travel to Islamabad for peace talks yet insisted that this did not mean hostilities would restart. That is a difficult line to sell when the Pentagon is boasting about a tightening blockade near the Strait of Hormuz and claiming it has diverted 34 vessels.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian frames this as a calculated campaign.His argument is simple enough. Naval pressure, threats and attacks on infrastructure cannot sit beside the language of negotiation. That charge will resonate in a region where the memory of sanctions, air strikes and broken guarantees is not academic. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, after talks in Islamabad, thanked Pakistan for its mediation and repeated Tehran’s demand for a complete end to the imposed war and the blockade.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif struck the right note after meeting Araghchi, describing the discussion as warm and cordial and pointing to deeper bilateral ties. Pakistan has done what a responsible regional state should do. It hosted talks, kept channels open, pressed for a truce and refused to turn diplomacy into a photo opportunity. Islamabad did not author this breakdown. Washington gave the assurances. Washington now carries the burden of proving that its word still holds.
The economic context is stark as energy markets are already nervous and although it need not be said aloud but the Gulf is not a chessboard for televised pressure tactics. Trump claims Tehran is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day even as Iran counters that either everyone enjoys a free oil market or everyone pays a steep price. Europe and the Gulf are paying already, and Pakistan, a net importer of energy, will drastically suffer if this continues.
Pakistan should stay firm. It should keep the door open for talks, continue coordination with Iran, the Gulf, China and other stakeholders, and resist being cast as the reason diplomacy stalled. The onus lies elsewhere.
A mediator can bring parties to the table. It cannot make them keep their promises. *