Pakistan's military 'cautiously optimistic' over Iran-US mediation

Pakistan's military is "cautiously optimistic" about its mediation between Iran and the United States, the country's military spokesperson has told Reuters.

He spoke in his first interview on Friday, given after a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week.

Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's chief mediator in efforts to calm the current Iran-related tensions that have run for eight months, has visited Tehran twice this month.

Most recently, on Monday, he went there with Saudi and Turkish officials.

Asked whether the visits were a positive sign, spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said: "If there were no positive aspect, why would the Field Marshal go there twice? So yes, of course it is a positive indication."

Chaudhry, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), added: "We always see this as cautious optimism."

He said there are still some "powerful parties and critics" who believe the conflict serves their interests, though he did not name them.

Speaking in Rawalpindi, the garrison city where Pakistan's military headquarters is located, Chaudhry declined to say what was discussed in Tehran or whether the visits had US backing.

On Monday in Tehran, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin joined Field Marshal Munir.

On 7 August, their countries signed a joint defence pact with Pakistan stating that an attack on any one signatory would be treated as an attack on all.

The "Makkah joint defence pact" has taken on new significance, because the situation around Iran is reshaping regional alliances and raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

The three signatory countries say the pact aims to ensure collective deterrence and regional security, but analysts say its evolution is deeply linked to regional powers' efforts to manage the fallout of an Iran-US conflict.

After Monday's talks, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said regional countries should ensure regional security themselves, without foreign interference.

On Friday, Chaudhry was asked whether Iran could join the pact. He replied that, under the pact's language, there is no bar on new members joining.

He said those who share a common view on collective deterrence and regional peace were welcome to join, but that the decision rests with the political leadership of the three main parties.

Asked whether more Pakistani troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia under the pact, Chaudhry said that would depend on the situation and on decisions by both countries' political leadership.

He said Pakistan is committed to protecting Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah, adding: "We are not part of the Yemen conflict; it is Yemen's internal conflict."