Pakistan on Tuesday said that it has been invited to participate in Iran-US talks in Turkey aimed at diffusing tensions between the two nations. According to the Associated Press, foreign ministers from Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also been invited to attend the talks.
"Pakistan has received the invitation for the upcoming talks between Iran and the United States," Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said.
According to Dawn, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will participate in the meeting. The report also stated that although the format of the meeting is unclear, the "main meeting" will take place on Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN that although Tehran had lost trust in the US as a negotiating partner, a deal on the nuclear issue can still be reached.
"So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons," he said.
He also said, "President Trump said no nuclear weapons, and we fully agree. We fully agree with that. That could be a very good deal."
He said that Iran wants sanctions removed in exchange for that.
Talks between the two long-time foes had been abandoned after Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iran in June, triggering a 12-day war.
US President Donald Trump has spoken of potential military action and sent an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following anti-government protests in Iran that were met with a deadly crackdown last month. He has maintained he is hopeful that Washington will "work something out" with Tehran but also warned that "bad things would happen" if a deal was not agreed.
Tehran has insisted it wants diplomacy while promising a decisive response to any aggression.
