FO urges restraint as US-Iran tensions continue, says diplomacy remains only path to peace
Pakistan on Thursday renewed its call for restraint amid continuing tensions involving the United States and Iran, warning that further escalation would undermine regional stability and insisting that “there is no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue and diplomacy”.
Speaking at the Foreign Office’s weekly media briefing, spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan remained “deeply concerned” over the latest developments in the region and had been actively engaging with regional partners to support de-escalation.
“We underscored that a renewed conflict serves no one’s interest” and urged all sides to avoid actions that could further inflame the situation.
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“There is no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue and diplomacy,” Andrabi said, adding that disputes could only be resolved “through dialogue at the negotiation tables”.
He said Pakistan would continue encouraging all parties to resume technical-level talks under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and the Pakistan-Qatar Joint Statement of June 22.
Andrabi said the ongoing tensions were already affecting countries beyond the region, particularly those in the Global South, citing concerns over trade, food security and global energy supplies. He also expressed hope for an early return to normality in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing the importance of protecting freedom of maritime navigation.
The spokesperson said Pakistan had remained actively engaged with regional leaders over the past week in an effort to support de-escalation.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate telephone conversations with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, had stressed restraint and the need to preserve the fragile peace achieved in recent weeks.
According to Andrabi, the Qatari leader thanked Pakistan for playing “an active role, a leading role for peace in the region”, while President Pezeshkian reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to peace and appreciated Islamabad’s “constructive support” for regional stability.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also held separate calls with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, during which they discussed recent developments and agreed to remain in close contact.
Read: Iran will ‘neutralise US interventions in the region’, says army spokesperson
Turning to other diplomatic engagements, Andrabi confirmed Dar had departed for Shanghai, where he will sign the founding instrument of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) on behalf of Pakistan.
He said Pakistan would join the China-backed body as a founding member and that Dar would also attend the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines.
Andrabi also highlighted a number of recent diplomatic engagements, including Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman’s visit to Islamabad, annual bilateral consultations with Portugal, and President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Kyrgyzstan — the first by a Pakistani president to the Central Asian country in more than two decades.
He said Pakistan had also hosted the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women, attended by delegates from the organisation’s 57 member states, and submitted its seventh national report under UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which he said reflected Pakistan’s commitment to international non-proliferation obligations.
During the question-and-answer session, Andrabi rejected India’s latest charge sheet against six leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, including the late Syed Ali Geelani, describing it as another attempt to use “sham legal processes” against the Kashmiri leadership.
He said reopening a case dating back nearly three decades demonstrated how India’s legal institutions were being used “to advance a political agenda” and maintained that such actions could not alter “the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Andrabi also dismissed India’s allegations linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack, calling them “baseless and politically motivated”. He said Pakistan continued to seek an “independent, transparent and credible investigation”, arguing that India had yet to produce credible evidence to support its claims.
Responding to a question about a child sexual abuse case in the United Kingdom, Andrabi condemned child sexual abuse “in the strongest possible terms” and said offenders should face the full force of the law.
He said the case was entirely a matter for the British authorities, noting that the individual concerned was a British national convicted by a UK court. Pakistan, he said, had “no connection whatsoever with this matter” and no role in decisions regarding the individual’s release or legal status.Read More
