Pakistan Tries to Mediate Between US and Iran
New Delhi: Pakistan has lately attracted global attention as it turned into a mediator between the US and Iran to end the raging war in West Asia.
The Politico-Military regime of Pakistan managed to convince US President Donald Trump as well as the Islamic leadership of Iran to have a conversation to end the conflict which has caused devastation in West Asia and economic distress around the world.
The animosity between the US and Iran dates back almost five decades. It turned into a devastating war on February 28 after the US and Israel carried out joint air strikes on Iran, assassinating its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was revered by millions of Shia Muslims.
As Iran retaliated by conducting missile and drone attacks at Israel as well as the American military and economic assets in West Asia, the entire region got engulfed in a massive armed conflict which carried on for 40 days.
The disastrous effects were felt even beyond the region and across the world as global energy supplies got disrupted severely, with oil and gas facilities being struck in Iran, Israel and various countries of the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait and the Strait of Hormuz being choked by Iran.
Fuel shortages and inflation hit many countries across the world, with the serious possibility of catastrophic effect on economies across the globe.
The US, too, could not escape the damaging impact. Not only did it suffer military casualties but its economy too was hit badly, leading to a major spike in essential commodities like fuel.
More than anything, the US suffered a massive blow to its image of being invincible. The biggest humiliation was the fact that the US could not prevent Iran from shutting down the Strait of Hormuz or reopen the critical maritime passage for normal navigation, even as Trump kept describing the American military as the “most powerful” ever.
Criticism and attacks against Trump and his policies mounted domestically to such an extent that there were demands and moves by dozens of US Congress members (Parliamentarians) for the President’s urgent impeachment.
Trump faced questions as to why he waged the war and why he was wasting billions of US taxpayers' money on an unnecessary and evil conflict.
Despite that, Trump maintained his jingoistic demeanor but he was clearly battered and needed a face-saver to wriggle out. And that is where Pakistan came in handy. So, as soon as Pakistan proposed to mediate, Trump grabbed the offer, as if he was keenly waiting.
Iran, which suffered huge damage in terms of loss of its leadership and infrastructure, also agreed to have the talks, but with “deep distrust” in the US because of the "repeated betrayals".
But, perhaps it agreed to talk with the intent of extracting the maximum benefits, having suffered severely due to the America-imposed sanctions over the last four decades.
Pakistan, projecting itself as a ‘peace maker’, is as ironic as it can get.
The reason for this is the dubious credentials the regime of Pakistan has, specifically in the context of peace.
In fact, Pakistan’s regime of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is effectively subservient to the all-powerful military headed by Field Marshal Asim Munir, as a ‘peace maker’ does not impress even the people of Pakistan, leave aside its immediate neighbours like Afghanistan.
Iran too doesn't repose full trust in the Pakistani regime, considering how Shias are mistreated in Sunni-dominated Pakistan.
Interestingly, Pakistan projected itself as a ‘peace maker’ even as it was engaged in killing innocent people in Afghanistan, including children and women, by carrying out aerial bombings across its Provinces.
The Pakistani military, a few weeks back, even carried out an air strike at a drug rehabilitation centre in Afghanistan, killing over 200 patients and medical staff.
The belligerence of the Pakistani military increased so much that China, a common friend, had to step in to stop it from conducting attacks in Afghanistan and broker peace between the two countries.
So, while Pakistan was projecting itself as a ‘peace maker’ in the war between the US and Iran, it was itself being hosted as a ‘war monger’ by China which has been making efforts to stop it from attacking Afghanistan. The last round of trilateral talks were held in Beijing only last week.
Pakistan’s credentials are questionable even in the context of terrorism. It is notorious for hosting and exporting terrorism, not only to India but beyond too.
History is witness to the fact that Pakistan had sheltered even the globally-most-wanted terrorist and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, near a military cantonment in Abbottabad, close to capital Islamabad.
To eliminate him, the US had to carry out a surgical military operation in May 2011, while keeping the Pakistani establishment in the dark because of the deep distrust in its regime.
Donald Trump, who has been showering praise on the Pakistani military, needs to be apprised about this crucial aspect of recent history.
The Pakistani military has been trying for decades to cause bloodshed and destabilisation in India by fomenting terrorism and peddling drugs and fake currency.
The ghastly attack in the tourist location of Pahalgam in Kashmir, where 26 innocent people were massacred by three Pakistani terrorists, was the latest evil act of the regime of Pakistan. It happened less than a year back, on April 22, 2025.
Even earlier, the Pakistani military has engineered thousands of terror strikes and subversive activities across India, including attacks on Parliament and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Among the biggest ones was the targeting of Mumbai in November 2008 where multiple places, including the iconic Taj Hotel, were targeted and 166 people killed, including the American nationals.
While it claims to be a ‘peace maker’, Pakistan continues to occupy, since nearly eight decades, several territories and regions, like parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.
These regions witness extreme forms of atrocities and oppression by the Pakistani military and its notorious intelligence agency ISI.
In occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Pakistani military and its secret agencies suppress even the freedom to life, leave aside other basic necessities.
The Pakistani military and its secret agencies also carry out extreme atrocities against the Baloch people in occupied Balochistan on daily basis, including abductions, rapes and extra-judicial killings.
Thousands of youth, including girls, are abducted by the Pakistani military every year in Balochistan and most of them never see the light of the day again even as their loved ones keep waiting endlessly.
Some of them may be freed after years but the extreme torture leaves them in a vegetable state.
Similar abuses are carried out by the Pakistani military in Sindh too.
Even domestically, the military regime of Pakistan has been carrying out brutal crimes and human rights abuses against its own people, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
On the pretext of targeting militants, the Pakistani military conducts aerial bombings and kills civilians and children.
Muslim religious scholars are also not spared, with State-sponsored personnel indulging in their killings in a recurrent manner.
Elsewhere also, anyone criticizing the military is silenced by threats or eliminations.
Donald Trump has been claiming that he ordered military action against Iran to prevent the Islamic country from acquiring Nuclear weapons.
This highlights the double-standards he practices.
Iran has been emphasizing that it has no intention of having nuclear weapons and is not working on any such programme.
It gave this assurance even during the talks on the nuclear issue, mediated by Oman which backed the claim. Despite that, Trump ordered a military strike at Iran.
On the other hand, Trump is silent about the nuclear weapons possessed by his favourite Pakistan, which pose a serious threat to India and the region.
It has been assessed even by the American establishment officials and experts that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons constitute a major threat as there is a looming risk of these falling into the hands of terrorists and other non-State actors because of the complicity between the Pakistani military regime with them.
Pakistan’s move to become a mediator between the US and Iran is a well-calculated one, amidst the deep financial crisis it has been facing.
One of the main objectives would be to acquire closeness with the Administration of Trump, who in January 2018 said Pakistan had been cheating the US of billions of dollars for decades.
By being in the good books of Trump, the notorious military regime of Pakistan must be aspiring to carry out, with more impunity, its nefarious activities, within as well as in respect of India and Afghanistan.
It must be hoping that by using the mask of a ‘peace maker’, it would be able to hide the extreme forms of atrocities, abuses and human rights violations in occupied Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
So, one may expect these atrocities to increase.
By claiming moral high ground, the Pakistani military regime would also be hoping to continue its ill-intentioned cross-border activities against India and Afghanistan.
For several years now, Pakistan has been facing a deep economic crisis, so much so that it has been surviving on the doles from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and some Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China.
These nations have lately been pressing Pakistan to return their loans, which is to the tune of billions of dollars.
This has led to a severe problem for Pakistan,
In fact, when the energy supplies from West Asia got disrupted, the Pakistan government had to resort to a partial shutdown of the country. It ordered partial closure of the government institutions, educational institutions and closure of many fuel stations, to save energy.
In view of the acute shortage of energy, even the much-trumpeted Pakistan Super League (PSL), an annual cricket tournament, was drastically scaled down, with the venues being limited to 3 from 10.
By gaining closeness with the Trump administration, Pakistan would be hoping for financial help from the US as well as other countries.
Meanwhile, the talks have failed yield any result.
