Washington, March 23
The White House on Monday declined to comment on mediation efforts in the Iran crisis, saying sensitive diplomacy would not be discussed publicly even as reports pointed to growing back-channel activity.
"These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the United States will not negotiate through the news media," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told IANS when asked about Pakistan's role in the conflict and peace efforts.
Her remarks came amid media reports that Pakistan is carrying out back-channel diplomacy to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran after weeks of conflict.
According to a Financial Times report, Pakistan is positioning itself as a mediator, leveraging ties with both Washington and Tehran. The report said Islamabad has proposed hosting talks as early as this week involving senior figures from the Trump administration and Iran.
Separately, Axios reported that Pakistan, along with Turkey and Egypt, has been passing messages between the United States and Iran and is trying to facilitate initial contacts between senior officials.
Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir spoke with President Donald Trump on Sunday, according to people briefed on the call cited by the Financial Times, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday.
White House did not confirm the phone call with Munir.
A Pakistani readout said Sharif "assured the Iranian leadership that Pakistan would continue to play a constructive role in facilitating peace."
The diplomatic activity coincided with Trump stepping back from a threatened strike on Iran's power plants. He said there had been "very good and productive" conversations aimed at ending the conflict and ordered a pause on military action.
"BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN-DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS ... I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump also said his envoys were in contact with a senior Iranian official and suggested that progress was being made. "We are dealing with a man that I believe is the most respected," he said, without naming the interlocutor.
Iran publicly denied any direct negotiations with the United States. "Over the past few days, messages were received via certain friendly states conveying the US request for negotiations to end the war," foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said. He added that "appropriate responses were given [to those initiatives] in accordance with the country's fundamental positions."
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, also rejected U.S. claims of talks and described them as an attempt to influence markets.
Axios reported that mediating countries were attempting to arrange a call between Iranian and U.S. representatives to determine whether an in-person meeting would take place.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, held talks with Turkey's Hakan Fidan, while Egypt's foreign minister spoke with counterparts from Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, as well as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, according to reports.
- IANS
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