Islamabad, September 02 (QNA) - Pakistan asserted Wednesday that it is diligently engaging in peace efforts concerning the US-Iran conflict, despite the current escalation between both sides.
It hoped that both parties would return to the negotiating table.
Speaking at the weekly press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan is closely monitoring the situation, highlighting that international armed conflicts always go through consecutive stages, beginning with escalation, followed by a relative calm, cessation of hostilities and, ultimately, a return to the negotiating table.
Pakistan is still alarmed by these evolving situations, Andrabi said, stating that the current situation should never be construed as a failure of the mediation process. He assured that his country continues to seriously engage in the peace pathway.
Andrabi further asserted that the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) offers a framework for the parties to return to negotiations and resume dialogue at the technical level to reach a long-term settlement for the confrontation playing out.
This memo remains a framework for talks whenever the parties realize that the conditions have become conducive to resumption, Andrabi noted, reemphasizing that Pakistan hopefully sees both sides ultimately return to the negotiating table.
The US and Iran electronically signed the Islamabad MOU on Jun. 18, which entered into force immediately upon signing and provided for a cessation of military operations, guarantees for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iran, and measures paving the way for talks aimed at reaching a lasting settlement to the conflict.
However, the interim agreement later faltered amid continued differences between the two sides, before US President Donald Trump announced on Jul. 8 that the agreement "was over", coinciding with the resumption of US military operations against Iran.
  Both sides have recently upped the ante, with US forces carrying out strikes on targets in Iran, while Tehran retaliated by attacking commercial vessels in the Strait, as well as sites in several countries of the region, at a time when diplomatic efforts are underway to return both parties to the negotiating table. (QNA)