By Mehrab Shah Afridi
ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has announced that Pakistan is prepared to play a mediating role between Iran and the United States to help de-escalate the mounting tensions in the region. Speaking to Arab media, Tarar highlighted Pakistan’s historical experience in successfully brokering resolutions to conflicts, expressing Islamabad’s willingness to facilitate dialogue between the two adversarial nations.
“Pakistan has previously played a successful mediation role in resolving disputes,” Tarar stated, while also condemning attacks on Iran and expressing solidarity with Gulf countries. The minister’s remarks come at a critical juncture as Iran and Israel engage in direct strikes against each other’s territories, with the United States closely allied with Israel in the conflict.
Addressing separate regional matters, Tarar dismissed allegations regarding Taliban claims of hospital bombings as baseless. “The Taliban have previously spread misleading news,” he asserted, referring to Afghan officials’ accusations regarding Pakistani military operations. The minister clarified that Pakistani military strikes have remained focused on camps spreading terrorism and have not targeted civilian populations in Afghanistan.
Tarar emphasized that Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations are conducted with precision and restraint, aimed solely at militant infrastructure rather than populated areas. His statements reflect Pakistan’s delicate diplomatic balancing act as it seeks to maintain relationships with multiple regional stakeholders while navigating the intensifying Iran-Israel conflict and ongoing tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
