Interior Minister Momeni is expected to arrive in the federal capital after Khamenei’s funeral.
ISLAMABAD:
A high-level Iranian delegation led by Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is expected to make a crucial visit to Pakistan in the coming days, a trip that diplomatic sources believe could eventually pave the way for the next round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad.
The Interior Minister is likely to travel to Islamabad after the burial of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 9. The Iranian minister’s visit was first announced early last week, when Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held a joint press conference in Tehran.
Naqvi told reporters that arrangements had already been made for the Iranian delegation’s visit to Islamabad and expressed satisfaction that Momeni would personally lead the delegation.
The visiting team is expected to include senior officials from Iran’s ministries of agriculture, industry, mining and trade, roads and urban development, foreign affairs, as well as representatives from the cultural heritage, tourism and crafts sectors.
While the publicly stated agenda of the visit is to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges, diplomatic sources said the trip also has significant political and diplomatic importance.
According to sources, Pakistan is increasingly being seen as a preferred location for the next round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States, and talks could take place in Islamabad later this month.
The sources said that despite recent rounds of talks held in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock and in Doha, Tehran’s preferred venue for future engagements with Washington remains Islamabad due to Pakistan’s close ties with both Iran and the Gulf States and its growing role as a facilitator.
The possibility of Islamabad hosting the next round of talks was also flagged by the Ministry of External Affairs in the latest weekly briefing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi described the latest indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington in Doha as “positive progress” and said the dialogue process was continuing.
“Positive progress was made on issues related to aspects of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), building on the Lake Lucerne Summit,” Andrabi said, adding that the parties had agreed to continue discussions after the completion of the funeral ceremonies of Iran’s late supreme leader.
Asked whether Pakistan could host the next round of negotiations, Andrabi said he could not rule out future meetings in Islamabad, although no formal decision had yet been made.
Pakistan and Qatar jointly facilitated the signing of the Islamabad MoU last month, which created a framework for renewed diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States after months of intense tensions.
Islamabad has played a central role and acted as an important diplomatic intermediary, maintaining close coordination with both Tehran and Doha while maintaining open channels of communication with Washington.
Diplomats therefore view the Iranian delegation’s upcoming visit as more than just a routine bilateral engagement. They believe it could serve as a preparatory step for another round of delicate negotiations that could put Pakistan back at the center of regional diplomacy.
