{"id":1356,"date":"2026-06-23T15:58:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:58:29","slug":"israels-lebanon-attacks-delayed-us-iran-talks-dar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/israels-lebanon-attacks-delayed-us-iran-talks-dar\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel’s Lebanon attacks delayed US-Iran talks: Dar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Sunday\u2019s US-Iran talks in Switzerland were nearly \u201cderailed\u201d due to Israel\u2019s continued attacks on Lebanon, it emerged on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya, which was recorded before the talks began, DPM Dar said, \u201cThe parlays starting in Switzerland could have started a few days earlier, but Israel\u2019s attacks on Lebanon derailed and stopped everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the outset of the interview, DPM Dar recalled Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic efforts since the start of the conflict on February 28, recalling the Pakistan-mediated ceasefire followed by the talks in Islamabad in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose parlays were the first time direct talks between the US and Iran after 47 years, and Pakistan was asked to be the witness,\u201d DPM Dar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that Pakistan\u2019s continued efforts after the Islamabad talks culminated in the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see, during this period, Pakistan has been \u2026 very active. Not only were we mediating between the US and Iran, but we were also keeping our allies and friends in the region connected with us,\u201d DPM Dar told Al Arabiya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued: \u201cIn that process, we saw that a regional forum has been created which is Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye and we were dealing side by side with Gulf countries and also international partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shifting his attention to the talks in Burgenstock, he called the summit \u201cphase two\u201d of the negotiation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are three technical groups. One is to deal with the nuclear issue, the second is about sanctions and frozen assets and third is Lebanon,\u201d DPM Dar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking about Lebanon, DPM Dar observed that the issue had \u201cerupted time and again\u201d during the course of the peace process and added that the Switzerland talks were nearly \u201cderailed\u201d due to Israel\u2019s attacks in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor certain items, they have 30 days to conclude, but the bulk and overall conclusion of the final deal timeline is 60 days, and this can be mutually extendable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the world was already beginning to see the dividends of the peace, citing reduced energy prices and resumption of traffic flow in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DPM Dar maintained that the Strait of Hormuz should be restored to pre-conflict status, which \u201cmeans no fee and no toll at all\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this, he also recalled his March visit to China, where he said both China and Pakistan agreed, as per a five-point plan, that there should be free movement in the strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo permits, no toll, no additional charge, whatever you name it; it should be free movement and sea lanes should be freely moving [on] both sides,\u201d Dar said, noting the energy crisis that resulted in the wake of the closure of the vital Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the global understanding,\u201d he said, observing that for \u201cat least 60 days, there will be free movement\u201d within the waterway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if any guarantees existed to contain Israeli actions in Lebanon, Dar responded: \u201cThe facilitator or mediator\u2019s role is to keep trying and making efforts. There were points where things looked like that won\u2019t be concluded, but we never gave hope [..] independently, there are spoilers who never wanted this deal to happen, and the moment this deal was signed, we saw that there was heavy bombing in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar held that wisdom must prevail, and urged the international community to \u201cconvince, persuade, and influence\u201d Israel to halt attacks in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this, he also spoke of plans to revive efforts to ensure implementation of Gaza\u2019s 21-point peace plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about Iran\u2019s Uranium stockpile, DPM Dar said that at the time of Islamabad Talks, Iran had expressed flexibility on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was at that time a question of US demand that they wanted to take it away. Iran was not willing to give it to us, but [..] it can be downblended from the claimed 60 per cent,\u201d Dar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recalling a conversation he had with the International Atomic Energy Agency\u2019s Rafael Grossi about the \u201cdownblending of the \u2018nuclear dust\u2019 to 0.7pc\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Al Arabiya, DPM Dar expressed hope that the final agreement will yield positive results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to be sincere to the cause; Pakistan has no personal vested interests, and we did the entire exercise with complete sincerity and pray to Allah to give both sides wisdom and foresight,\u201d Dar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued: \u201cI\u2019m a born optimist, and I have full faith that with our efforts along with the global community and the support of brotherly countries, these two countries (US and Iran) will reach a final deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On US sanctions on Iran, DPM Dar said that the issue was being dealt with by one of the three technical groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalled that the issue was discussed in Islamabad talks and it now remained to be seen how it would proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis new document (MoU) has been divided into two phases,\u201d Dar said, explaining that the first phase had been completed and signed and urged that no one should doubt the \u201cintentions of the signing parties\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have no doubt that they are sincere and want to move forward,\u201d Dar remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar hoped that there would be no \u201cnegative play\u201d by any party moving forward and added that \u201csanctions will be co-discussed and co-decided along with the nuclear and Lebanon issues in the 60-day phase\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Sunday\u2019s US-Iran talks in Switzerland were nearly \u201cderailed\u201d due to Israel\u2019s continued attacks on Lebanon, it emerged on Tuesday. In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya, which was recorded before the talks began, DPM Dar said, \u201cThe parlays starting in Switzerland could have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,16,2,9],"tags":[34,49,50,51],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest","category-national","category-pakisstan","category-food","tag-iran-war","tag-ishaq-dar","tag-peace-talks","tag-us"],"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"afnanwasif","display_name":"Web Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbec8328241e98fefcd32e00f20f7a6b502086a0b95d395db4b1565c51681914?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Web","last_name":"Desk","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1357,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}