AS the Gulf situation is taking new and dangerous turns with the passage of almost every day, it is a matter of satisfaction that mediator Pakistan has not lost hopes about finding an amicable solution to the conflict. This aspect is highlighted by the visit of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to Iran, which was surely aimed at removing obstacles to the revival of the peace process and promoting regional peace and security.
The visit comes at an important juncture as the US is adamant to impose what it calls toughest sanctions on Iran and Tehran is moving closer to imposing fee for use of Strait of Hormuz, as a sign of its firmness to retain management control of the waterway. At the same time, Iran has threatened to give a military response to the US plans for sanctions that could seriously jeopardize its ailing economy. Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that try to transit the vital water channel and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions. In this backdrop, as per reports, the CDF’s agenda for Tehran included discussions with Iranian leadership on peace under Islamabad’s MoU, Trump’s warning and the situation after the Pakistan-Turkiye-Saudi Arabia Agreement and Houthi issues. Though there are serious violations of the Islamabad accord but luckily neither side has officially retracted from the understanding reached through the mediation of Pakistan. There was an understandable pause in covert and overt diplomatic efforts aimed at restoration of peace because of extreme positions adopted by the two countries and their apparent preference to settle dispute through use of force, a strategy, which was not expected to help realize their goals and there is no indication either of them could materialize its designs against the other. Their failure to achieve goals through military means and uncertainty clouding moves to focus on economic war might persuade the two sides to listen to the workable proposals of mediators.
