Pakistan's interior minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday "to facilitate" the peace talks between Iran and the United States that have stalled despite a fragile ceasefire, Iranian media reported.
"Mohsin Naqvi arrived today in the Islamic Republic of Iran on an official two-day visit as part of Pakistan's ongoing efforts to facilitate talks and promote regional peace," the Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni received Naqvi, whose visit to Tehran comes days after that of Pakistan's influential army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Islamabad has been actively mediating in the peace talks between Iran and the US and last month hosted a high stakes meeting between delegations from both sides. A ceasefire that began on April 8 has largely halted the fighting that erupted when US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on February 28.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran had received messages from Washington indicating that President Donald Trump's administration was willing to continue negotiations.
Iran's chief negotiator and speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that Washington should accept Tehran's proposal for peace or face "failure" after Trump rejected an Iranian counteroffer and warned the ceasefire was on "life support".
"There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal. Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," Ghalibaf said, in a social media post.
Pakistan continues to win international acclaim for its role in Iran-US ceasefire
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, US Congressman Jack Bergman described Pakistan's role as a demonstration of true statesmanship.
He extended deep and lasting gratitude to Pakistan for its exemplary leadership role in peace negotiations between Iran and the United States.
The Congressman said Pak-US ties are of enduring strategic importance, and the way Pakistan has leveraged its position in negotiations has earned public recognition from Donald Trump, the White House, and Congress.
Jack Bergman said he will visit Pakistan soon to further strengthen bilateral bond between the two countries.
European countries in talks with Tehran for Hormuz transit: state media
Iranian state television said on Saturday that European countries were in talks with Tehran over transit for ships through the Strait of Hormuz. "Following the passage of ships from East Asian countries, notably China, Japan and Pakistan, we received information today indicating that Europeans have also begun negotiations with the Revolutionary Guards navy" to get permission to pass, state television reported, without specifying which countries.
Iran has largely blocked shipping through the vital strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.
Its grip over the waterway has rattled global markets and given Tehran significant leverage, while the United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports. In peacetime, the route accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, along with other key commodities. Iran has in recent days allowed passage for dozens of ships including from China "after an agreement on Iran's strait management protocols," the Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, said in a statement.
Since the war broke out, Iran has repeatedly said that maritime traffic through the strait would "not return to its pre-war status" and last month said it has received the first revenue from tolls it imposed on the waterway.
On Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security commission, said Iran "has prepared a professional mechanism to manage traffic" through the strait, adding that it will be "unveiled soon".
"In this process, only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran will benefit from it," he noted, adding that "the necessary fees will be collected for specialized services".
"This route will remain closed to the operators of the so-called 'freedom project'," he said, referring to a temporary US military operation to guide stranded commercial ships through the strait.