Pakistan offers to facilitate U.S.-Iran war talks as Trump, Tehran give mixed signals

“Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the WAR in Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in region and beyond,” Sharif said on X.

“Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he said.

The post tagged the social media profiles of President Donald Trump, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Trump, on his Truth Social platform, shared a screenshot of Sharif’s post later Tuesday morning.

The messaging followed reporting that regional leaders are engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to help broker an end to the conflict, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and wrought havoc on the global economy since it began less than a month ago.

But much remains unclear about where things stand between the U.S. and Iran, which have made contradictory claims about the status of their discussions.

Trump said Monday that top U.S. negotiators and their Iranian counterparts have been engaged in “very, very strong talks” as recently as Sunday evening.

As a result of those purported talks, Trump said he would postpone the ultimatum he had issued Saturday for Iran to either open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, or else face major strikes on their power plants and energy infrastructure.

U.S. stocks rallied on that announcement. Iranian officials, however, denied that any such discussions have taken place.

An Iranian source told CNN on Tuesday that the U.S. has initiated “outreach” to Iran, though full-on negotiations have not yet begun.

That statement also contradicts Trump, who said Monday that Iran had reached out to the U.S.: “I didn’t call. They called. They want to make a deal.”

The Washington Post, citing U.S. and foreign officials, reported Tuesday morning that Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have acted as intermediaries in talks between Witkoff and Araghchi.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the foreign ministers of those countries and Saudi Arabia had gathered in Riyadh on Thursday for talks on finding a diplomatic end to the war.

But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the last week has pushed Trump to continue fighting Iran, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed by U.S. officials on their conversations.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.