IAEA Chief Offers Technical Support as Pakistan Pushes to Defuse Middle East Tensions
By Sadaf Sundas Riaz — SCN News
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has offered technical support if needed as Pakistan renewed its push for implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as the most viable route to defuse renewed tensions in the Middle East.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with Grossi late on Monday and discussed the evolving regional situation, Pakistan's Foreign Office said. The two agreed that implementation of the Islamabad MoU remained the best course for easing tensions, while Grossi offered the nuclear watchdog's technical support should it be required.
The exchange gives the diplomatic framework a potentially important technical dimension because the nuclear issue remains one of the most difficult elements of any durable settlement between Washington and Tehran. The Islamabad MoU provides for negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme and envisages IAEA supervision in areas involving enriched nuclear material, making the agency central to verification if diplomacy advances.
Dar reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and international treaties during his conversation with Grossi. He also stressed the importance of the UN system in advancing international peace and development, according to accounts of the Foreign Office statement.
Grossi's intervention comes as Islamabad seeks to preserve a diplomatic mechanism negotiated during an earlier phase of the U.S.-Iran crisis. The Islamabad MoU was concluded in June as an interim framework between Iran and the United States and committed the sides to move from military confrontation towards negotiations on a final settlement. Pakistan subsequently joined high-level talks in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, aimed at advancing implementation of the agreement.
The framework extends beyond a cessation of hostilities. Its provisions address sanctions, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme, including the disposition of enriched material and future discussions over enrichment. Those provisions explain why IAEA technical participation could become particularly significant if political negotiations return to substantive implementation.
Pakistan has continued to argue that renewed military escalation has not eliminated the relevance of the agreement. In July, the Foreign Office described the Islamabad MoU as an enduring framework for peace and said Islamabad would encourage the parties to end violence and resume technical-level discussions under the agreement and the subsequent Pakistan-Qatar roadmap.
The IAEA dimension is also important because international monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities has faced serious disruption during the conflict. Reporting to the United Nations earlier this year indicated that the agency's ability to maintain knowledge of Iran's declared nuclear facilities and associated material had deteriorated after attacks on Iran, increasing the importance of restoring effective verification arrangements as part of any negotiated settlement.
Grossi and Dar had previously discussed the crisis in July, when the IAEA chief expressed hope that dialogue following the Islamabad MoU could produce a peaceful and durable outcome. Monday's conversation goes a step further by explicitly placing possible IAEA technical assistance alongside the renewed diplomatic push for implementation.
The latest contact therefore underscores the division of roles emerging around the peace effort: Pakistan is seeking to keep the political and diplomatic framework alive, while the IAEA could provide the specialist verification capacity needed to address the nuclear component if Washington and Tehran return to detailed negotiations.
Dar also wished Grossi well in his campaign for the post of United Nations secretary-general, according to the Foreign Office account. Grossi is currently serving as IAEA director general while campaigning for the UN's top diplomatic position.