Dar meets top US diplomat as Pakistan keeps pushing Iran ceasefire talks

# Dar meets top US diplomat as Pakistan keeps pushing Iran ceasefire talks

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, met US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker in Islamabad on May 11, 2026, as Islamabad kept pressing for a ceasefire and broader agreement between Washington and Tehran.

According to the Arab News report, the meeting came one day after Pakistan said it had received Iran’s response to a latest US proposal. That response was part of a diplomatic process Pakistan has increasingly tried to manage, presenting itself as a bridge between the two sides after years of limited direct contact.

The foreign office said Dar highlighted Pakistan’s role in facilitating communication between the United States and Iran and expressed hope that the talks would help bring peace and stability to the region. The meeting also covered broader Pakistan-US bilateral relations, suggesting that the diplomatic push was happening alongside regular efforts to keep ties with Washington stable.

The story places the talks in a larger regional context. Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz had put pressure on maritime security and global energy supplies, and Islamabad has been trying to preserve channels to both Washington and Tehran while avoiding an overt alignment with either side. That balancing act has become more difficult as the conflict has intensified and as each round of diplomacy produces fresh public scrutiny.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already said on Sunday that Islamabad had received Iran’s response through diplomatic channels and was continuing efforts to encourage dialogue. The US side, meanwhile, had signaled that it was dissatisfied with some parts of Tehran’s response even while continuing talks. The meeting with Baker therefore appears to have been part of an active, and still incomplete, effort to keep the process moving.

The report also said Pakistan had hosted the first direct high-level US-Iran talks in decades on April 11-12. That detail matters because it shows how quickly Islamabad’s role has evolved from observer to facilitator. Pakistani officials have reportedly described the talks as an attempt to move a conflict that had been destabilizing the wider region and threatening maritime traffic through one of the world’s most important chokepoints.

Dar’s meeting with Baker did not produce a new agreement, but that was not the point. Its significance lay in continuity. Pakistan was still in the room, still carrying messages, and still trying to keep Washington and Tehran from slipping back into a purely confrontational track.

For now, the country’s diplomatic value appears to come from access rather than leverage. Islamabad can help the two sides talk. Whether it can help them finish a deal remains much less certain.