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New Delhi: Pakistan is trying to play the role of “lead mediator” and resolve the US-Israel war against Iran and has even pitched Islamabad as a possible venue for the talks between top officials of the Trump Administration and Tehran, several reports claimed.

While the UK-based daily Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s Army chief Asim Munir held a telephonic conversation over the matter, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday.

According to Reuters, Israeli officials have indicated a potential meeting in Islamabad as early as this week, involving senior US and Iranian figures. The report also claimed that mediating countries – Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, are trying to convene US-Iran talks in Islamabad, possibly within days. US Vice President JD Vance is expected to represent Washington at the talks.

What White House said

However, the White House said there is no official confirmation yet regarding these reports and that such a development should not be treated as final unless formally announced.

Cautioning against drawing conclusions, US press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the US will not negotiate through the press. This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House,” she said.

Trump’s ‘productive talks’ claim

Trump on Monday said that the US would halt strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days following what he called “very good and productive” talks with Tehran to end the war.

Iran, however, denied any direct negotiations with the US since the start of the war but said some regional states were involved in mediation efforts.“Over the past few days, messages were received via certain friendly states conveying the US request for negotiations to end the war,” the foreign ministry’s spokesperson told official news agency IRNA.

“Appropriate responses were given (to those initiatives) in accordance with the country’s fundamental positions.” The spokesperson, however, clarified that Iran will not change its position regarding the situation at the Strait of Hormuz or Tehran’s conditions for ending the war, according to IRNA.