China and Pakistan issued a joint five-part Middle East peace proposal after their foreign ministers met in Beijing, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Iran war and protection for regional waterways, including the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar travelled to the Chinese capital for a one-day meeting with Wang Yi as Islamabad sought support for its efforts to mediate between Iran and the United States. China’s Foreign Ministry said the visit was designed to deepen coordination between the two countries over the conflict and support further work for peace.
The joint statement said dialogue and diplomacy were the only workable route to settling disputes. However, the meeting produced no reported breakthrough in bringing the principal combatants together. US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were progressing very well, while Tehran maintained that no direct talks were taking place.
China had condemned the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran but subsequently kept its distance from direct involvement, focusing publicly on calls for a ceasefire. Beijing has close ties with Tehran and is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. It had also negotiated with Iran to allow Chinese oil tankers to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the supplied Guardian report.
Pakistan, meanwhile, had placed itself at the centre of a broader attempt to end the fighting. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Syed Asim Munir had communicated with Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other world leaders. Messages between Washington and Tehran had passed through Pakistani intermediaries, and Islamabad was promoting itself as a potential venue for peace talks.
Two days before the Beijing meeting, Pakistan hosted the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt for discussions on a regional path out of the conflict. Neither the United States nor Iran attended, limiting the gathering’s diplomatic weight.
Islamabad’s interest extends beyond an expanded international role. Pakistan shares a roughly 900-kilometre border with Iran and faces an insurgency in Balochistan, raising concern that instability could cross the frontier. It also has the largest Shia Muslim population outside Iran, and deadly demonstrations had already followed the beginning of US and Israeli bombing of Tehran.
The economic stakes are substantial as well. Disruption to fuel and gas traffic through Hormuz was already imposing costs on Pakistan. Islamabad relies economically on Gulf monarchies, particularly Saudi Arabia, while also seeking stable ties with Washington and managing its sensitive relationship with neighbouring Iran. A recently signed defence pact with Saudi Arabia added another complication if Gulf states were to take a more direct offensive role.
The five-part initiative set out shared principles of de-escalation, safe navigation and negotiation. Yet without direct participation by Iran and the United States, it remained a diplomatic framework rather than an agreed route to ending the war.
