Islamabad in spotlight as Iran plans key visit

A high-level Iranian delegation led by Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is expected to undertake a crucial visit to Pakistan in the coming days, a trip that diplomatic sources believe could eventually pave the way for the next round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad.

The interior minister is likely to travel to Islamabad after the burial of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 9. The visit of the Iranian minister was first announced earlier last week when Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held a joint press conference in Tehran.

Naqvi told reporters that arrangements had already been made for the Iranian delegation's visit to Islamabad and expressed satisfaction that Momeni would personally lead the delegation.

The visiting team is expected to include senior officials from Iran's ministries of agriculture, industry, mining and trade, roads and urban development, foreign affairs, as well as representatives from the cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts sectors.

While the publicly stated agenda of the visit is to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges, diplomatic sources said the trip also carries significant political and diplomatic importance.

According to the sources, Pakistan is increasingly being viewed as a preferred venue for the next round of indirect Iran-US negotiations, with talks potentially taking place in Islamabad later this month.

The sources said that despite recent rounds of negotiations held in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock and in Doha, Tehran's preferred venue for future engagement with Washington remains Islamabad because of Pakistan's close ties with both Iran and the Gulf states and its growing role as a facilitator.

The possibility of Islamabad hosting the next round of talks was also signaled by the Foreign Office at the last weekly briefing. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had described the latest indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington in Doha as having made "positive progress" and said the dialogue process remained on track.

"There was positive progress made on issues related to the aspects of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), building on the Lake Lucerne Summit," Andrabi had said, adding that the parties had agreed to continue discussions after the completion of funeral ceremonies for Iran's late supreme leader.

When asked whether Pakistan could host the next round of negotiations, Andrabi said he could not rule out future meetings in Islamabad, although no formal decision had yet been taken.

Pakistan and Qatar jointly facilitated the signing of the Islamabad MoU last month, which created a framework for renewed diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States after months of heightened tensions.

Islamabad has played a central role and acted as an important diplomatic intermediary, maintaining close coordination with both Tehran and Doha while keeping channels of communication open with Washington.

The upcoming visit by the Iranian delegation is therefore being seen by diplomats as more than a routine bilateral engagement. They believe it could serve as a preparatory step for another round of sensitive negotiations that may once again place Pakistan at the centre of regional diplomacy.