Pakistan offers maritime muscle to protect shipping

Pakistan on Wednesday said it was prepared to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and other members of a maritime coalition intended to protect commercial shipping and global supply chains.

"Pakistan is a signatory to this coalition and abides by its communiqué," Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad

Three Pakistani nationals were killed and another Pakistani was injured after Houthi forces attacked a commercial vessel in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to the Foreign Ministry. Eleven other Pakistani and Indonesian sailors were rescued.

Islamabad condemned the attack, describing it as a violation of international law and a threat to freedom of navigation and maritime security.

"We are ready and willing to assist Saudi Arabia and other coalition partners in the operationalization of this communiqué to preserve the safety and security of the global supply chain, as well as maritime traffic."

The statement marks a potentially important development in Pakistan's position towards the maritime crisis. Islamabad has traditionally been cautious about becoming militarily involved in Yemen and the Red Sea, particularly after parliament's 2015 resolution calling for neutrality in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

Andrabi declined to compare the current commitment with Pakistan's earlier involvement in the Yemen crisis, saying Islamabad would implement the maritime coalition's communiqué "with full earnest".

He said Pakistan was coordinating with Saudi authorities over the latest attack, including efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths and arrange the repatriation of the Pakistani victims.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi delivered an "important message" from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and CDF Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to one of Iran's most influential security officials and close aide of Supreme leader on Wednesday, as he continued engagement on the second day of his visit to Tehran.

On the second day of his visit, Naqvi met Maj Gen Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, carrying what diplomatic sources described as an important message from the country's political and military leadership.

The contents of the message were not disclosed, reflecting the sensitivity of Pakistan's ongoing diplomatic efforts.

"We will not share the details of what exactly was the message, but this is essentially in the context of peace efforts," the Foreign Office spokesperson said.

"The Interior Minister visited Tehran and carried out messages. These are part of the regular diplomatic exchanges."

Andrabi said Naqvi's visit also had a bilateral dimension, given his responsibilities as interior minister, and that he had held meetings with his Iranian counterpart.

The meeting with Rezaei was significant because of his position at the center of Iran's national security establishment. A former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Rezaei remains a prominent figure in Iran's political and security circles.

Iran's state news agency presented the meeting as an expression of the strategic importance Tehran attaches to Pakistan.

Rezaei said Iran regarded Pakistan's government, armed forces and people as "great assets of the Islamic world" and welcomed what he described as the increased involvement of Prime Minister Sharif and Pakistan's military leadership in regional affairs.

He also called for closer cooperation among major Muslim countries, naming Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia as countries with a responsibility to strengthen Islamic unity.

The Iranian official described the relationship between Tehran and Islamabad as strategic, saying that successive Iranian leaders had viewed Pakistan as Iran's "strategic rear" and Iran as Pakistan's strategic rear.

He said President Masoud Pezeshkian wanted economic and political relations with Pakistan to expand significantly.

Naqvi told Rezaei that relations between Iran and Pakistan had moved to a stronger level in recent months and that the two countries needed greater interaction to turn political goodwill into practical cooperation.

The visit comes at a particularly delicate moment for Islamabad.

Pakistan has been trying to maintain working relations with Iran while simultaneously deepening its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. On Aug. 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which Islamabad has described as defensive and intended to strengthen collective security.

The agreement has generated questions about how Pakistan will balance its new defence commitments with its longstanding relationship with Iran.

The Foreign Office has sought to draw a distinction between the two tracks.

Andrabi said that the Makkah agreement was "purely defensive in nature" and aimed at confronting threats to its three members. He also said that the agreement remained open to additional countries.

The spokesperson said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had discussed the agreement with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in a telephone conversation on Aug. 10, alongside regional developments and efforts to promote peace and stability.

Andrabi did not say that the Makkah agreement was the subject of Naqvi's message to Tehran.

Instead, he linked the visit primarily to Islamabad's effort to sustain diplomatic engagement over the broader regional crisis.

Pakistan has repeatedly positioned itself as a facilitator between Iran and the United States. Its diplomatic efforts have included the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which was intended to provide a framework for a wider de-escalation process.

The 60-day period envisaged under the memorandum is due to expire on Aug. 17. Andrabi said Pakistan still hoped the process could be revived or extended, arguing that the document remained a template for future negotiations even if it had not been fully implemented.

"The 60-day deadline is approaching soon," he said. "We hope that when the intention to engage in dialogue is there, this deadline can always be extended."

At the same time, Pakistan has continued to resist pressure to frame the regional crisis solely in military terms.

Andrabi said Islamabad remained optimistic about the possibility of renewed negotiations between Iran and the United States despite months of confrontation.

The reason, he said, was that previous periods of escalation had eventually been followed by renewed dialogue.

"We are not discouraged by escalations," he said. "We maintain sustained engagement with the parties in order to resolve the conflicts."

One immediate obstacle is the unresolved dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Andrabi, Iran and Oman are currently engaged in talks over the strait, with Qatar and Pakistan supporting the effort. Islamabad considers an agreement on Hormuz crucial to unlocking the wider peace process.

"An agreement on the Strait of Hormuz is very important, as it will catalyse the larger agreement," he said.

Direct or technical-level talks between Iran and the United States, however, remain stalled, he added.

The Pakistani spokesman also confirmed that Islamabad has invited Iran's foreign minister and speaker of Parliament to visit Pakistan, though no dates have yet been fixed.

For Tehran, meanwhile, the outreach from Islamabad appears to carry significance beyond the immediate crisis.

Rezaei emphasized the popular and political ties between the two countries, recalling Pakistan's support for Iran during its recent conflict and describing the relationship between the two peoples as an important strategic asset.

Naqvi echoed that sentiment, pointing to what he described as an unprecedented level of solidarity between the two countries.

The Pakistani minister also congratulated Rezaei on his appointment and said his experience could contribute to efforts to establish lasting security and peace in the region.

The messaging from both sides suggested that, despite Pakistan's new defence commitments with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, Islamabad does not intend to allow those ties to come at the expense of its relationship with Tehran.

Instead, Pakistan appears to be attempting a more complicated balancing act: strengthening its security partnership with two key regional powers while preserving its credibility in Tehran and continuing to present itself as a potential bridge between competing sides.

Andrabi's comments suggested that Islamabad sees this balancing act not as a contradiction but as central to its diplomatic role.

"Pakistan remains engaged alongside other brotherly states in sincere efforts to resolve the crisis in the Gulf and the Middle East," he said.