Pakistan presses Iran diplomacy and Hormuz reopening as Trump rejects timetable for ending war
ISLAMABAD/TEHRAN — Pakistan said Thursday it would continue efforts to revive negotiations between the United States and Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while explicitly rejecting claims that Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran as an envoy for President Donald Trump. The clarification came as regional diplomacy intensified around a conflict approaching its six-month mark, with Qatar's prime minister holding talks in Tehran and Iran and Oman working on a possible temporary shipping arrangement through Hormuz. Washington, however, offered little indication that an immediate breakthrough was near: Trump said he had “no time schedule” for ending the confrontation and was “not in a hurry,” while the White House said no direct U.S.-Iran negotiations were currently taking place.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Munir's August 24 visit to Tehran was undertaken as part of Pakistan's continuing role as a mediator and described suggestions that he had travelled on behalf of Trump or the United States as “misleading and factually incorrect.” Munir, accompanied by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials during a mission focused on regional de-escalation, reopening Hormuz and finding a negotiated route out of the conflict. Naqvi subsequently said the meetings produced “significant progress,” while Pakistan's military said discussions had focused on preventing further escalation and accelerating an end to hostilities. Reuters previously reported that Munir spoke with Trump before travelling to Tehran, but Pakistan's position is that the mission represented Islamabad's independent mediation rather than delivery of a U.S. presidential mandate.
The Foreign Office said Thursday that Munir's talks had generated renewed efforts toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which about a fifth of global oil supplies moved before the war. Andrabi said Pakistan remained positive that momentum could develop, while stressing that mediators could facilitate negotiations but decisions ultimately belonged to Washington and Tehran. Islamabad also welcomed parallel initiatives by Qatar and Oman, presenting the regional diplomatic activity as complementary attempts to restore dialogue rather than competing mediation tracks.
That regional push gathered pace Thursday when Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran. Qatar said the talks covered de-escalation and a proposed phased framework involving a temporary Iranian-Omani shipping corridor through Hormuz as well as a joint mine-clearing project. Iran and Oman have been negotiating arrangements governing commercial traffic through the strait, although a senior Iranian source told Reuters that details had not yet been finalized. Tehran has used control of the waterway as one of its strongest sources of leverage since the war disrupted most normal shipping through the Gulf.
The diplomatic activity contrasts sharply with Washington's public position. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that there were currently no negotiations between the United States and Iran and that Trump retained all options. She said Washington had first targeted Iran militarily and was now seeking to intensify economic pressure through the administration's new sanctions campaign. Trump reinforced that position in an interview with Al Jazeera, saying he had no deadline for Iran to return to negotiations and believed U.S. pressure was succeeding. He said Washington was “winning very big,” citing Iran's economic difficulties, and indicated he was prepared to continue the confrontation for as long as necessary.
Iran disputes Washington's characterization that Tehran has refused meaningful diplomacy. Iranian officials say they remain willing to negotiate but have demanded sanctions relief and other conditions before a wider settlement can be restored. A U.S.-Iran memorandum reached in June briefly created hopes of ending the conflict, but the arrangement quickly broke down, partly over disagreements involving Hormuz. Pakistan has since sought to revive that political process, while Qatar and Oman have concentrated increasingly on de-escalation and reopening maritime traffic.
The urgency surrounding Hormuz was underscored by another maritime incident this week. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile near the entrance to the strait on Tuesday and caught fire. Responsibility for the attack has not been established. The International Maritime Organization has recorded dozens of security incidents around Hormuz since the war began on February 28, while disruption of the waterway has affected global energy shipments and increased pressure on Gulf economies and energy-importing countries.
Pakistan has particular reasons to seek a rapid reopening of the strait. Islamabad has repeatedly emphasized the effect of disrupted energy supply chains, and Andrabi said Thursday that restoring navigation through Hormuz mattered because the disruption “affects everybody,” particularly through energy supplies. Pakistan also shares a long border with Iran and maintains important relationships with both Tehran and Washington, placing Islamabad in an unusual position among governments attempting to keep communication open between the adversaries.
The competing signals now define the diplomatic moment. Pakistan says Munir's Tehran mission created renewed momentum. Qatar has put another senior mediator in Tehran. Iran and Oman are discussing a practical mechanism for reopening commercial navigation. Yet Washington says direct negotiations have not resumed, and Trump says he sees no reason to impose a deadline on the war. That leaves regional mediators trying to build an off-ramp from a conflict while the United States publicly signals that it believes continued pressure may improve its negotiating position.
The next test may therefore come at Hormuz rather than at a formal U.S.-Iran negotiating table. A workable Iranian-Omani shipping arrangement could restore some commercial traffic without requiring Washington and Tehran to settle their larger disputes immediately, potentially creating the first practical confidence-building measure since the June agreement collapsed. Pakistan's Foreign Office said Thursday that reopening the strait could help generate momentum toward a wider settlement, but acknowledged that mediators cannot make the final decision for either side. For now, the diplomatic machinery around the war is accelerating even as Washington insists it is in no hurry to end it.