Dar places US-Iran accord on record

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday tabled the three-page US-Iran agreement in the National Assembly, saying phase two would involve technical discussions on nuclear matters, sanctions and frozen assets, and Lebanon.

While addressing the National Assembly session, Dar said placing it on record alongside the June 22 joint communique issued by the United States, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan, saying the document had been "considerably misunderstood" and misquoted.

"It is the right of both Houses that I place this on the record of this assembly, so that if any colleague wishes to see this document, take a copy, or quote it, there is no misunderstanding," he said.

He added that every page of the agreement carried initials and the third page bore full signatures, and that the foreign office had also uploaded the communiqué to its website.

"All agreed to it, and its copy was also placed by our foreign office on their website, so that colleagues who need to see what the outcome was, what the roadmap is, how to move forward, I will also place the copy, the one issued by all four countries from Switzerland on June 22, on the record for the foreign office, so that any member of the NA or Senate may see it," he said.

Giving the house a detailed account of how the agreement came together, Dar said the breakthrough came after a 21-hour negotiating session on April 10 and 11. The session ran through six rounds, with breaks taken not for rest but for consultation, continuing until Fajr, Dar said. "I pay tribute to both parties," he added, noting that they had agreed to sit at the same table on the condition that Pakistan, their mutually chosen mediator, also be present.

The foreign minister said that the US delegation comprised Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. Iran was represented by its Senior Speaker, Bagher Ghalibaf and two other senior officials, including a National Security Council secretary.

"Pakistan's delegation was led by me, alongside the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir and the DG ISI," he said.

However, after those talks stalled - with both sides needing to refer back to their respective leaderships - Dar said serious apprehensions emerged over the following weeks that the process might not reach a conclusion.

He credited the PM Shehbaz, Field Marshal Munir, and the foreign office for persisting despite the apprehensions, saying, "They did not give up. Hope was not given up."

Further, Dar noted that a regional forum comprising Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkiye also became "proactively engaged", holding meetings in Riyadh on March 19, then in Antalya, in Islamabad on March 29, and most recently in Egypt.

Regarding the agreement itself, Dar revealed that it was originally to be signed physically in Geneva on June 19 at the Intercontinental hotel, with arrangements already in place.

However, on the night of June 18, a sudden development changed the sequence. President Trump, in France for the G7 summit, decided to sign electronically on the sidelines of the forum. The document was then transmitted to Iran, and President Pezeshkian signed it. PM Shehbaz then signed as mediator on Pakistan's behalf.