Pak Army 'cautiously optimistic' on Iran-US mediation

ISPR spokesman says there is no bar on Iran joining defence pact

RAWALPINDI:

Pakistan Army is "cautiously optimistic" about its mediation between Iran and the United States, its spokesman said on Friday in his first interview since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week.

Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday alongside Saudi and Turkish officials.

"Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course," spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said when asked whether the trips were a positive sign.

"The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic," added Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations.

There were still "powerful spoilers and detractors," who believed conflict serves them, he added without naming them.

Speaking in Rawalpindi, Chaudhry declined to say what was discussed or whether the US had backed the trip.

"Anyone who has a shared vision of collective deterrence and regional peace, why not? Everyone is most welcome," he said, adding that it was for the political leadership of the three principal parties to decide.

Asked whether more Pakistani troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia under the agreement, Chaudhry said that would depend on the situation and the decision of both countries' political leadership.

He said Pakistan was committed to defending Saudi Arabia and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. "We are not part of the Yemeni conflict, which is an intra-Yemen conflict," he added.

"Our counter-terrorism operations are based on what we call IBOs, intelligence-based operations... The tempo of the freedom of action of (those) IBOs will further increase," he said.