ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood held telephonic conversations with counterparts from Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey Sunday as rising tensions between Iran and the US continue to threaten peace in the Middle East.
During the telephonic conversation, the foreign minister took part in wide-ranging discussions on the unfolding situation in the region.
Highlighting Pakistan’s deep concern over the recent developments, Mr Qureshi underscored the imperative of avoidance of conflict, exercise of maximum restraint, and de-escalation of tensions.
He renewed Pakistan's call for all parties concerned to abide by the UN Charter and principles of international law to settle differences through peaceful means, the foreign office spokesperson in a press release said.
The foreign minister also reaffirmed that Pakistan would neither let its soil be used against any other state nor become part of any regional conflict.
He reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to continue to play a role in preventing further escalation and maintaining regional peace and stability.
Sharing Pakistan’s perspective, the foreign minister expressed the hope that the progress made in the Afghan peace process would be preserved and further advanced.
Qassem Soleimani was killed on Friday in a U.S. drone strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport, an attack that took U.S.-Iranian hostilities into uncharted waters and stoked concern about a major conflagration.
Soleimani was the architect of Tehran’s overseas clandestine and military operations as head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised on Friday that Iran would seek harsh revenge for his death.
Trump responded to that and other strong words from Tehran with a series of tweets on Saturday, saying Iran “is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets”.
The United States has “targeted 52 Iranian sites”, some “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD”, he said.
As Washington and Tehran, longtime foes, assailed each other with threats and counter-threats, the European Union, Britain and Oman urged them to make diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis.
The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to work to end all foreign troop presence, reflecting the concern of many in Iraq that the strike could engulf them in a major war between two bigger powers long at odds in Iraq and across the region.
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