US President Donald Trump on Sunday praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir for their tireless efforts in mediating the US-Iran talks.
Talk during a telephone conversation with fox news On peace talks with Iran, Trump said Prime Minister Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir were “great people” and added that he had “great respect” for Pakistan’s top leaders.
Trump said he decided to cancel the planned visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense.
“If they [Iranians] They want to talk, they can come to us or they can call us. You know, there’s a phone. We have beautiful and safe lines,” he added.
Despite canceling the trip, the US President said he had great respect for Prime Minister Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir for making tireless efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table.
Trump noted that Pakistani mediators will remain involved in the negotiation process between Washington and Tehran.
The US president has repeatedly praised Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders for facilitating talks between Washington and Tehran.
Earlier, he praised the “gracious and very competent leadership” of the army chief and the prime minister for organizing the first round of talks in Islamabad on April 11.
“They [PM Shehbaz and the field marshal] “They are extraordinary men and they continually thank me for saving between 30 and 50 million lives in what would have been a horrendous war with India,” he added.
Pakistan’s push to bring Iran and the United States to the negotiating table for their highest-level face-to-face talks in decades to end weeks of war has garnered international praise.
In Islamabad, Field Marshal Munir was at the center of the action, greeting both delegations upon their arrival and displaying notable bonhomie with US Vice President JD Vance.
Trump frequently refers to CDF Munir as his “favorite quarterback,” after a relationship built during U.S. efforts to defuse a brief but intense armed conflict between Pakistan and rival India last year.
