ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, assuring Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni that Islamabad would continue to play the role of an “honest and sincere mediator and facilitator” to de-escalate regional tensions and encourage dialogue.
The commitment came during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, who is on an official visit to Pakistan and called on the premier at the Prime Minister House.
The Iranian minister also conveyed the greetings and best wishes of Iran’s leadership and appreciated Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote regional stability.
Interior Minister of Iran H.E. Iskander Momeni called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. Islamabad, 21 July 2026. pic.twitter.com/DFB48bDZuK
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) July 21, 2026
Welcoming the Iranian delegation, Prime Minister Shehbaz recalled his recent visit to Tehran to attend the funeral ceremony of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei and conveyed his respectful regards and best wishes to Supreme Leader His Eminence Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei and President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pakistan urges all sides to exercise restraint
Expressing deep concern over the recent escalation in the Gulf region, the prime minister urged all sides to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further destabilise the region. He reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to regional peace and stability, stressing that Islamabad would continue supporting dialogue and diplomatic engagement.
Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said he was leading a high-level delegation to Pakistan to further strengthen bilateral relations and expand cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.
The Iranian minister expressed deep appreciation for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defence Force and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and for their tireless mediation efforts that led to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف سے ایرانی وزیر داخلہ سکندر مومنی کی ملاقات
وزیراعظم کا خلیج میں حالیہ کشیدگی پر گہری تشویش کا اظہار
وزیراعظم شہباز شریف کا تمام فریقین کو تحمل کا مظاہرہ کرنے پر زور
پاکستان دیانتدار، مخلص ثالث اور سہولت کار کے طور پر کردار جاری رکھے گا
وزیراعظم کا خطے… pic.twitter.com/neZRcbgBlZ
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) July 21, 2026
He also thanked the prime minister for travelling to Tehran to attend the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader, describing the visit as a reflection of the close and enduring ties between the two countries.
The meeting underscored the shared resolve of Islamabad and Tehran to deepen bilateral engagement while working together to promote peace, stability and dialogue in the region.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr Syed Tauqir Shah, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and other senior officials attended the meeting.
Also Read: Iranian Interior Minister Arrives in Islamabad for Talks with Pakistani Leadership
Tehran accuses US of violating Islamabad MoU
The visit comes at a time of renewed tensions between the United States and Iran after Tehran announced it was suspending its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), accusing Washington of violating the agreement.
The Islamabad MoU, brokered by Pakistan, was signed in June to end hostilities between the two countries and pave the way for a lasting peace agreement to permanently end the conflict.
The Islamabad MoU was signed on June 18 by US President Donald Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, following Islamabad brokered a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
Under the Islamabad MoU, the US and Iran committed to halt military operations, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, and negotiate a comprehensive agreement covering Iran’s nuclear programme, US sanctions, and a permanent ceasefire within 60 days.
US, Iran Exchange Fresh Strikes as Gulf Tensions Escalate
The United States and Iran exchanged fresh military strikes late on Monday and into Tuesday, marking another significant escalation in the confrontation that has heightened security concerns across the Gulf region and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Today at 4 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began a new round of strikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction. The strikes are designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 20, 2026
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that American forces had completed a new round of military strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday.
According to the command, the operation targeted Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems.
CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to weaken Iran’s ability to launch attacks against commercial shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime corridors.
Hormuz shipping slows as US-Iran conflict escalates
Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to slow at the start of the week as heightened security concerns followed a fresh round of military exchanges between the United States and Iran, according to shipping data released on Tuesday.
Data from maritime analytics firm Kpler showed that only four commodity vessels transited the strategically important waterway on Monday, compared with seven on Sunday.
Most of the recorded movements were along the Iranian shipping route, reflecting growing caution among vessel operators navigating one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.
Of the four vessels, two departed the Strait while two entered. The outbound traffic consisted of one tanker transporting petrochemical products and another empty tanker. The inbound ships included a bitumen carrier and an oil tanker.
US, Iran signal openness to diplomacy
The United States and Iran signalled on Monday that they remain open to diplomacy despite escalating military confrontation, raising hopes of renewed negotiations under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) framework as mediators sought to de-escalate the conflict and revive dialogue between Washington and Tehran.
A senior Iranian official, cited by Reuters, said mediators had conveyed a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire aimed at de-escalating the conflict and reviving an interim agreement reached last month between Tehran and Washington.
At a weekly press conference in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said intermediaries had delivered fresh proposals to Iran in recent days and that negotiations with the United States could continue if they served Iran’s national interests, AFP reported.
Asked whether the door to talks with Washington had closed, Baghaei rejected the notion that diplomacy and military action were mutually exclusive.
“I reject the duality of either war or diplomacy. Diplomacy is a tool through which we pursue our national interests, just like war,” he said.
Baghaei also accused the United States of targeting civilian facilities and infrastructure in several Iranian provinces during its military campaign, saying the attacks demonstrated “America’s destructive logic”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
“We condemn the attacks on infrastructure in the strongest possible terms,” he said.
Rubio says US will continue diplomacy with Iran
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would continue pursuing a diplomatic solution while insisting that any agreement with Tehran must be meaningful and fully implemented.
Speaking before departing for the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Rubio accused elements within Iran of attempting to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the international community.
“It is evident that some within Iran want to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the rest of the world,” Rubio said.
He stressed that any disruption to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes posed a threat to global maritime security and international trade.
