Mohsin Naqvi meets IRGC chief during second Tehran visit in less than a week

TEHRAN: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Gen Ahmad Vahidi in Tehran during his latest visit to Iran for talks with senior Iranian officials, according to PTV News.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, citing informed diplomatic sources in Islamabad, reported on Wednesday that Naqvi had travelled to Tehran for discussions with Iranian authorities. PTV News later said the Pakistani minister held a meeting with Gen Vahidi in the Iranian capital.

This is Naqvi’s second visit to Iran in less than a week. He also met his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni during the trip.

Talks linked to US-Iran diplomacy

According to multiple Pakistani government sources cited in the report, Naqvi arrived in Tehran to discuss a fresh US proposal with Iranian leaders as part of efforts aimed at ending the continuing Middle East conflict. The sources said Pakistan-led mediation between Washington and Tehran had entered a critical stage.

The interior ministry said Naqvi’s meeting with Gen Vahidi focused on efforts to revive stalled talks between the United States and Iran. Pakistani government sources also said the minister was expected to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior officials to discuss the latest US proposal.

The same sources said the diplomatic process had become more sensitive after Washington and Tehran exchanged new proposals this week. They said Pakistan was seeking to reinforce the ceasefire and encourage both sides to return to direct negotiations.

Currently, Pakistan's top priority is to further strengthen the ceasefire and persuade the two sides to hold another round of direct talks.

The sources added that the possibility of a second round of direct negotiations in Islamabad had improved after recent developments, including US President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone planned strikes on Iran.

Trump said on Monday that he had delayed renewed attacks after several regional countries told him that a deal to fully end the conflict was close. He said leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other countries had asked him to delay strikes

because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal

Details of proposals

According to the sources, the latest US proposal offers slightly better incentives to Iran than earlier proposals. They said the proposal covers issues related to Iran’s frozen assets and international sanctions, but added that Washington had offered no new concession on Iran’s nuclear programme, which they described as the main obstacle to an agreement.

Under a previously reported 14-point Iranian proposal, Tehran wants separate negotiations on its nuclear programme, including enriched uranium, within 30 days after a permanent ceasefire is reached. Washington, however, wants the nuclear issue to be discussed and resolved before any permanent ceasefire agreement.

The sources further said a proposal for third-party monitoring remains under discussion, mainly on the Iranian side.

Regional backdrop and earlier visit

Regional tensions have risen since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. Tehran responded with attacks targeting Israel and US allies in the Gulf, and also closed the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but later talks in Islamabad did not produce a lasting agreement. Trump subsequently extended the truce indefinitely.

Since then, both sides have continued exchanging proposals and counter-proposals in an effort to resume direct talks and end the conflict.

During his previous visit to Tehran in recent days, Naqvi met President Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Araghchi, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Interior Minister Momeni. Naqvi spent nearly 90 minutes in a private meeting with the Iranian president at the Presidential Administration, while his overall stay at the complex lasted around three hours.

Pezeshkian praised what he described as the responsible cooperation of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq in preventing their territories from being used as bases for armed operations against Iran. He also commended Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts during recent tensions, particularly the role of its political and military leadership in supporting efforts to stabilise the ceasefire.

Pakistan has also been engaging other stakeholders as it pursues what it describes as a permanent resolution to the ongoing war between the United States and Iran. Despite repeated exchanges of proposals, the deadlock remains.

A diplomatic source said Pakistan was continuing to urge both sides to persist with diplomacy.

That is why Pakistan is pushing and persuading both sides not to give up on diplomatic efforts.

Iran and the United States remain far apart on how to end the war. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that Washington had set five conditions in response to Tehran’s proposal for negotiations, including no war reparations for Iran, transfer of 400 kilogrammes of enriched uranium to the US, retention of only one Iranian nuclear facility, no release of even 25% of Iran’s frozen assets, and negotiations tied to an end to the war on all fronts.

Iran, is seeking an end to conflicts across all fronts, especially in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions, the return of frozen assets, war compensation, and recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran is believed to have responded to the US conditions through Islamabad.

Last month, Naqvi also accompanied the field marshal during his visit to Tehran.