International media highlights Pakistan’s role in US-Iran ceasefire

ISLAMABAD: International news organisations have highlighted Pakistan’s role in helping secure a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, describing Islamabad’s intervention as a notable diplomatic development with regional and global implications.

According to Dawn, the coverage followed a pause in hostilities agreed in the early hours of Wednesday after US President Donald Trump had on Tuesday warned that a ‘whole civilisation will die’ and issued Iran an ultimatum to reach a deal. Barely an hour before that deadline was due to expire, Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week halt in fighting along with a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Dawn reported that the development came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to give diplomacy a chance, a request that was accepted. Islamabad is set to host talks between the two countries in the coming days in an effort to seek a longer-term resolution to the conflict.

Several international outlets said the ceasefire had also elevated Pakistan’s diplomatic profile, with some describing the country as a peacemaker at a time of heightened regional tensions.

The Independent’s assessment

In an analysis cited by Dawn, The Independent said Pakistan’s role in stepping in during the crisis ‘could mark one of its most significant diplomatic achievements in years, and it is one that has been welcomed throughout the region’, including by some commentators in India.

The publication said Pakistan’s involvement was partly shaped by its own interests, noting the country’s dependence on imported energy and the impact of the conflict on fuel supplies and remittances from Pakistanis working in the Middle East. “Even so, the optics of the ceasefire are significant for Pakistan on the world stage”, while also linking the outcome to what it described as the importance of Trump’s personal relationship with the Pakistani military.

CNN focused on Pakistan’s role in arranging talks after Trump had earlier criticised a 10-point plan by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council that sought the right to coordinate all cross-Strait of Hormuz traffic.

In his analysis, CNN’s Stephen Collinson wrote “It will be up to Pakistan, which brokered an agreement for the US and Iran to hold talks starting Friday, to clear this up — if the deal lasts that long.”

He added “The Islamabad government, which has shrewdly used its friendships in Tehran and Washington, must fashion off-ramps neither Trump nor Iran could find themselves”.

Bloomberg, said that despite lingering uncertainty over the ceasefire, Pakistan ‘nevertheless deserves a tremendous amount of credit for having the guts to stick out its neck and offer its diplomatic services’.

Pakistan’s mediation effort was helped by its increasingly close ties with the Trump administration, while also pointing to Islamabad’s ‘warm ties’ with Iran and Gulf states. Bloomberg said these relationships had encouraged Pakistan to seek an end to the fighting to avoid being pulled into the conflict itself.

The report also noted Pakistan’s economic stake in the situation, saying disruption in the Strait of Hormuz had affected global energy supplies and exposed Pakistan because of its substantial oil and liquefied natural gas imports passing through the waterway. It concluded. What stands out is Pakistan’s repositioning from a peripheral actor to a credible intermediary capable of convening adversaries.

France 24 said Pakistan’s neutral posture made ‘economic sense’. The outlet said Pakistan depends on oil and gas imports moving through the Strait of Hormuz and wanted to avoid being drawn deeper into conflict near its borders.

Prolonged disruption would have worsened fuel availability, increased prices and led to further austerity measures for the government. France 24 also said a lasting end to the war would strengthen regional stability and improve Pakistan’s international standing at a time when it is in armed conflict with Afghanistan and less than a year after exchanging strikes with India.

Gulf News, meanwhile, said Pakistan’s relations with both Washington and Tehran had placed it in a ‘unique position’ to open channels of communication between two states that do not have direct diplomatic relations. According to Dawn, the publication said Pakistan’s approach was to remain publicly neutral while engaging privately with all sides.

Pakistan’s role in representing Iranian interests in Washington gave it unusual institutional access, while its longstanding ties with the United States supported its credibility with American leaders. Gulf News also said that although a high-level meeting of foreign ministers in Islamabad last month did not appear publicly successful, Pakistan increased its outreach afterwards.

The publication said that despite continuing challenges, the ceasefire represented a significant diplomatic gain for Islamabad and showed how sustained and quiet engagement could shape a fast-moving and high-stakes conflict even as the war’s human and economic toll continued to rise.