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| Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets President of Islamic Republic of Iran, D. Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 81st Session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, September 24, 2026. — X/@PakPMO |
By Shahnoor Saqib — SCN News
UNITED NATIONS — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding remains “fully acceptable” to Tehran and Iran is ready to move it forward, giving Pakistan’s mediation effort fresh diplomatic significance as Islamabad tries to keep a pathway open toward de-escalating the prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict. The message emerged from detailed talks between the two leaders on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, where Shehbaz urged restraint, de-escalation and sustained diplomacy rather than further military escalation.
The Iranian position is the strongest element to emerge from the meeting because it goes beyond a general call for peace. The Islamabad MoU is the 14-point interim framework reached by the United States and Iran with Pakistan acting as mediator in June, designed to provide a route toward ending the conflict. Fighting subsequently continued, including sporadic strikes, a U.S. naval blockade affecting Iranian ports and tensions over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving implementation of the framework stalled.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Pezeshkian, Shehbaz said the Iranian president had reaffirmed Tehran’s position directly. “The Iranian president said the Islamabad MoU is still fully acceptable to us and they are ready to take it forward,” the prime minister said. That statement potentially gives Islamabad a concrete diplomatic basis for renewed engagement rather than requiring mediators to construct an entirely new framework for talks.
Pakistan’s official account of the meeting was more measured but reinforced the same diplomatic direction. The Prime Minister’s Office said Shehbaz expressed “deep concern over the prolonged conflict” and emphasised restraint, de-escalation and sustained diplomatic engagement to achieve lasting regional peace and stability. He specifically stressed implementation of the Islamabad MoU and reaffirmed Pakistan’s readiness to play what the government described as a sincere and constructive role in regional diplomacy.
The New York meeting comes at an unusually important moment for those efforts. Pezeshkian told the General Assembly a day earlier that Iran “cannot be made to surrender,” delivering a defiant response to U.S. military pressure while still leaving open the possibility of diplomacy. His subsequent assurance to Shehbaz that the Islamabad framework remains acceptable indicates that Tehran’s public refusal to capitulate has not closed the negotiating channel Pakistan helped establish.
Shehbaz also connected the diplomatic push to two of the region’s most strategically important waterways: the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. He said provocative activity around the waterways required friendly countries to work collectively to lower tensions, making clear that Pakistan sees the Iran conflict, Houthi escalation and threats to maritime commerce as interconnected parts of a wider regional crisis.
That linkage has become more urgent as instability spreads beyond the direct U.S.-Iran confrontation. The Strait of Hormuz is central to Gulf energy exports, while Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is a critical route for international shipping. Disruption at either chokepoint can affect energy markets, shipping costs and supply chains far beyond the Middle East.
Pakistan’s approach is therefore increasingly focused not simply on restarting U.S.-Iran talks but on preventing several connected conflicts from reinforcing one another. Shehbaz said restoring regional peace was an urgent necessity and told Pezeshkian that Pakistan’s political and military leadership would continue working together in support of that objective.
The effort builds on Pakistan’s earlier mediation between Washington and Tehran. Shehbaz said this week that Islamabad had “not lost hope” despite developments that derailed earlier progress, and described Pakistan as a sincere mediator between neighbouring Iran and the United States. He also said engagement remained continuous and that other friendly countries were contributing to efforts to reduce tensions.
The diplomatic architecture around the talks has consequently become broader than Pakistan alone. Qatar is involved in immediate shuttle diplomacy surrounding renewed U.S.-Iran contacts in New York, while Pakistan is maintaining a parallel channel with Tehran, according to diplomatic reporting. That creates multiple avenues through which proposals can move even in the absence of normal diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran.
Pezeshkian’s response to Shehbaz is particularly relevant against that background. Tehran did not announce a new concession on the substance of its dispute with Washington, and the meeting produced no ceasefire or formal resumption of the Islamabad framework. What Iran did signal was that the previously negotiated framework itself remains acceptable — an important distinction as mediators attempt to determine whether there is still common ground on which negotiations can resume.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Pezeshkian praised Pakistan’s “principled diplomacy and concerted efforts for regional peace and security.” Both leaders agreed on the importance of regular consultations and closer coordination while also reaffirming the longstanding bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Iran.
The meeting included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi from the Pakistani side, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also present. The senior-level participation gave the talks a broader diplomatic and security dimension beyond a brief leaders’ encounter on the margins of the General Assembly.
There are still substantial obstacles. The U.S.-Iran conflict has continued despite previous rounds of diplomacy, Washington and Tehran remain divided over the terms for ending hostilities, and tensions surrounding Hormuz have added another layer to negotiations. Pezeshkian’s acceptance of the Islamabad MoU therefore should not be read as evidence that a settlement has been reached.
It does, however, preserve a negotiating framework at a moment when public rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran has become increasingly confrontational. For Pakistan, that offers an opening to turn its UNGA diplomacy into a more concrete mediation effort after the leaders leave New York.
The immediate question is whether Iran’s willingness to return to the Islamabad framework can be matched by Washington and translated into another round of substantive negotiations. Pakistan has publicly committed itself to that effort, while Shehbaz is using meetings at UNGA81 to argue that restraint around Iran, Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab is becoming increasingly important to regional and international security.
The strongest development from Thursday’s meeting is therefore not another general declaration of Pakistan-Iran friendship. Pezeshkian has told Shehbaz that the Islamabad MoU remains acceptable to Tehran and that Iran is prepared to take it forward — potentially giving Pakistan an existing diplomatic framework around which it can build its renewed effort to move Washington and Tehran away from escalation and back toward negotiations.