Pakistan continues to play a key role in the Iran talks. The warm embrace among US Vice President JD Vance, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Field Marshal Asim Munir, chief of the Defense Forces, is significant.
Vance praised the Pakistanis for everything they have done to help foster the talks with Iran.
Sharif arrived in Switzerland on Sunday for the technical talks with the US, Iran, and other countries.
“Sharif, along with army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, will represent Pakistan in the talks on the implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, in Burgenstock, a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said,” Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
Pakistan is working to advance the implementation of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.
Sharif is also holding talks with Qatar, according to reports. This is part of Pakistan’s “enduring commitment to dialogue and durable peace in the region,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
The visuals at the Lake Lucerne Summit in Switzerland are important. Vance was clearly very interested in showing US support for Pakistan.
The leaders met in front of a banner announcing the summit. The banner shows the flags of Pakistan, Qatar, the US, and Iran. The Pakistani and Qatari flags are in the middle, while the US and Iranian flags are on the ends of the four-flag arrangement on the poster.
There is a lot of focus on the photos and videos coming out of Switzerland as the meetings get underway.
“The visuals in Switzerland: The US delegation entered well before the Iranians, [Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher] Ghalibaf didn’t enter while the press was inside, Vance did; Iranian FM entered last & didn’t shake hands,” Hiba Nasr, the Washington bureau chief of London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, wrote.
CBS chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan wrote on X/Twitter: “I’m told the Iranian delegation refused to participate in the photo spray. The TV pool was not allowed back into the Swiss boardroom after the Iranian delegation joined the meeting. The producer on site did spot Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf & Foreign Minister Aragchi walking in.”
In the past, Iran has refused direct talks with the US.
Vance praises Pakistan delegation
Reuters correspondent Humeyra Pamuk quoted Vance as saying: “What [US President Donald Trump] has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran, and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship.”
There is a lot of focus on the warmth between Vance and the Pakistani delegation. Vance clearly has a close relationship with Munir, the army chief, as evidenced by a joke he told about the field marshal being one of several important people in his life.
“I have joked that I have two very, very important people in my life – an Indian and a Pakistani,” he said. “The Indian is my wife, and the Pakistani is Field Marshal Munir.”
Vance said he has spoken to Munir more than anyone else in recent months.
The Pakistani army chief has shown himself to be a good diplomat, Vance said, adding that Sharif and Munir had welcomed him in Pakistan during the negotiations there.
These words will mean a lot to Pakistan, which prides itself on receiving the respect it believes it deserves. It has sometimes felt eclipsed by other countries, and it also feels it has to compete with its much larger neighbor, India.
In the past, Pakistan and the US were close partners. This was the case since the era of President Richard Nixon and was true during the US backing of the Afghan mujahideen, who fought against the Afghan government and the Soviet Union.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, however, things shifted. The US had a complex relationship with Pakistan under Pervez Musharraf. It had also navigated the careers of other Pakistani leaders, such as Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto, and Imran Khan.
Pakistan wants to play a larger role
The US raid into Abbottabad to eliminate Osama bin Laden was controversial in Pakistan, which has not been portrayed well in most US films about the global war on terrorism. As such, the new warmth with the Trump administration matters a lot to Islamabad.
Pakistan wants to play a larger role alongside Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar in the Middle East. It is shifting its focus toward the West rather than engaging with India or China.
Pakistan was a conduit for US ties to China decades ago, but that has also shifted. In addition, the US role in Afghanistan was not always greeted with approval in Islamabad. Now that the US has left Afghanistan, Pakistan has a more nuanced approach.
From Israel’s point of view, the role of Pakistan and Qatar in the talks is concerning. Israeli commentators have become more critical of Qatar over the past year and a half.
In addition, they have become critical of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey, viewing them as Sunni powers that might challenge Israel in the future.
There is growing talk in Israeli leadership circles about how these Sunni countries could be a challenge now that Iran is weakened. They likely want closer ties with the US because they are concerned about Israeli threats in the future.
Having seen Israel’s military power create air superiority over Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen, these countries now feel they are basically on a border with Israel.
This is true of Turkey’s influence in Syria, Egypt, on the actual border with Israel, and Pakistan on the border of Iran and Qatar, where Israel carried out an unprecedented airstrike in Doha against Hamas leaders last year, the first time the IDF had attacked a Gulf state.
Pakistan is a potential major winner from the Iran talks, but it wants to make sure Iran actually stays the course.
Tehran has shown in the past that it will try to drag the talks out and create crises. Vance’s personal warm relationship with the Pakistani leadership might help smooth things over.