Pakistan's Mohsin Naqvi visits Tehran to revive stalled US-Iran talks

Islamabad,UPDATED: Aug 12, 2026 13:38 IST

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Tuesday, with the visit focused on bilateral ties and efforts to revive stalled US-Iran peace negotiations, according to media reports.

The visit comes after an interim agreement signed in June, with Pakistan as a guarantor, fell apart last month as tensions rose in West Asia and the US and Iran resumed military strikes. Islamabad has been trying to restart its mediation efforts to help end the conflict.

Naqvi travelled to the Iranian capital early on Tuesday for talks on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, diplomatic sources cited by Iran's official news agency IRNA said. He was received at the airport by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni and later held talks with Araghchi. IRNA also posted photographs of Naqvi's meeting with Araghchi on X.

Naqvi and Araghchi are also expected to hold detailed bilateral discussions during the visit, according to a diplomatic source. In his meeting with President Pezeshkian, Naqvi described ties between the two neighbours as "strong, long-standing and unbreakable" and conveyed Islamabad's "serious determination and will" to pursue the comprehensive development of relations with Tehran, the source said.

Pezeshkian said Iran-Pakistan relations would serve the two countries' national interests and also contribute to regional stability and security, the source added. The Pakistani minister is expected to meet the Iranian president again.

Another diplomatic source told Dawn that the main purpose of Naqvi's visit was to follow up on the stalled Memorandum of Understanding signed in June by the US and Iran. The MoU was aimed at creating a 60-day window for high-level talks to restore peace.

Pakistan's attempts to revive the talks have so far not produced results, especially after Oman took the lead as mediator on the main sticking point, the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for global energy supplies. Iran has said it is close to a separate deal with Oman to manage the strait, which lies between the two countries.

The diplomatic source said the reported progress in the Oman-Iran dialogue had created an opening for Islamabad to try to revive the wider process that emerged from the June agreement. Pakistan had recently invited Araghchi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf to visit Islamabad at the "earliest possible opportunity". However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the visit of the two Iranian leaders would take place "at an appropriate time".

Naqvi's visit is being seen as an effort by Pakistan to keep the mediation channel open while Iranian leaders decide on a possible visit to Islamabad for further talks. The Strait of Hormuz, which saw partial relief for a short period after the June MoU, remains blocked after the collapse of the US-Iran negotiations. Iran and Oman are now discussing a new arrangement for safe passage through the strait, including a possible new shipping route and ways to manage it. Tehran has said any understanding with Oman would only be a technical or first-stage arrangement and would not amount to a full reopening of the waterway, and has maintained that it will reopen the strait only after the US addresses all alleged violations of the MoU.

With PTI Inputs

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