Iran said on July 13 that talks with Pakistan, Qatar and Oman were still continuing as mediators tried to stop the conflict with the United States from widening further.
The account in Arab News PK said Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the contacts as part of an effort to prevent another jump in violence after fresh US strikes on Iranian targets and retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran against American facilities across several Gulf states. Those exchanges again raised concern about regional security and the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor that remains central to global energy trade.
The report said Pakistan and Qatar have been involved in recent diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran, and that Oman has also remained active as a separate channel. The mediators had already helped shape the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, an interim arrangement reached in June that halted hostilities, reopened the strait to commercial shipping and set a 60-day timetable for a more comprehensive deal.
According to the report, US and Iranian negotiators met with Pakistani and Qatari mediators in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in June in the first high-level talks on implementing the memorandum. The parties agreed to create a high-level committee, set up working groups on the nuclear file, sanctions and dispute resolution, and establish direct communication channels intended to reduce the risk of military incidents and protect commercial navigation.
Further indirect technical talks were later held in Doha. Baghaei said the mediators were continuing their efforts and that Iran would use all available means to defend its interests, but he did not provide specifics of the Iran-Pakistan discussions or say whether new formal talks with the United States were being planned. Islamabad had not yet commented on his remarks.
The report also said the diplomatic process has come under strain as Washington and Tehran resumed attacks and blamed each other for the collapse of the ceasefire. Iran has again restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, adding volatility to global oil markets and increasing pressure on the mediator track.
Pakistan, according to the report, has repeatedly urged restraint and called on the parties to uphold the memorandum, arguing that renewed conflict would threaten peace and economic stability across the Middle East.
The report’s emphasis on mediator channels also points to the limits of public diplomacy during fast-moving conflict. Pakistan and Qatar can help keep a line open, but they cannot themselves guarantee that either side will halt attacks or sign a final settlement. In that sense, the continuing contacts described by Baghaei are best read as a sign that the channel has not broken down, not as proof that a breakthrough is close.
For now, the main practical question is whether the talks can prevent further incidents around the strait and the wider Gulf. The report suggests that both the military and diplomatic dimensions remain active, with shipping security, sanctions relief and nuclear issues all folded into one negotiation track. That makes the next round of discussions less about symbolism and more about whether the mediators can keep the situation from sliding back into open confrontation.
