INDIRECT peace talks between the United States and Iran have entered in a crucial phase as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who has all along been intimately involved in the mediation efforts, once again reached Tehran on Friday for talks with the Iranian leadership on de-escalation and proposed peace deal. His visit assumes special significance and relevance as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was already there and had extensive discussions with senior leaders of Iran as part of the efforts to hammer out differences on the reported draft agreement.
In view of the understandable secrecy surrounding behind-the-scenes mediation efforts, it is not clear what prompted the CDF to visit the Iranian capital when the Pakistani leadership was already in contact with the Iranian leadership through the Interior Minister. There could be two possible explanations — either the two sides were close to a peace deal or Iranian leaders still have major objections to the draft. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, reported on Sunday that progress has been made on several issues in ongoing talks, but stressed that no final agreement will be reached unless all outstanding differences are resolved. The source was quoted as saying that while discussions had moved forward in a constructive direction, key disputed matters still required resolution before any comprehensive deal could be concluded. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, was quoted by IRNA news agency as saying diplomacy takes time and suggesting that the sides had not reached a point where an agreement was close. He has described differences with the United States ‘deep and significant’ and talked about in terms of weeks and months for diplomacy to succeed. These remarks from Iranian officials clearly show that Tehran was not in a hurry to sign a deal. However, the visit of the CDF, who is also maintaining a close contact with the senior leadership of the United States, is a sign of urgency.
President Donald Trump claimed a few days back that he was an hour away from ordering resumption of war with Iran but delayed implementation of the decision at the instance of Pakistan and allies in the Gulf. This could mean that the United States was losing patience due to lack of required progress in the talks but Iran is also firm in proclaiming it will not surrender its rights and sovereignty. The most serious is the nuclear issue but Iran says it was not being discussed, adding that a conclusion would not be reached if the US sought to delve into details about highly enriched uranium in Iran. As against this, nuclear has become an issue of ego and prestige for the United States, which wants not only firm commitments from Iran never ever to have a nuclear bomb but also wants possession of its enriched Uranium, which has become a real bone of contention. That an agreement was not imminent was also hinted at by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who said on Friday that they would all love to see an agreement with Iran but added that they were “not there yet.” In a related development, a Qatari negotiating team also arrived in Tehran on Friday in coordination with the United States to help secure a deal to end the war and resolve outstanding issues. It is generally believed that the Qatari team is there in Tehran to complement efforts of Pakistan, which is considered both by the United States and Iran as the primary mediator. All eyes are now set on Tehran where mediators have converged to help the peace process move forward.
