Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi delivered a “special message” from the country’s top leadership to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian media reported on Sunday, amid Islamabad’s diplomatic push to help end the US-Iran conflict.
Naqvi landed in Tehran on Saturday for talks with senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Tehran, Naqvi said he travelled to Iran to deliver a letter from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir to Khamenei.
The interior minister delivered the message during a meeting with Araghchi earlier today, with images published by Fars news agency showing him handing over a sealed brown envelope to the Iranian foreign minister.
The crucial communication comes amid heightened tension between Iran and the US, with recent tit-for-tat attacks threatening the fragile ceasefire, in place since April 8.
Islamabad has been acting as a key mediator between the US and Iran since hostilities erupted in the Middle East in late February.
The Middle East conflict began after the US and Iran launched coordinated attacks on Iran on February 28. Tehran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US bases across the region, and also closed the Strait of Hormuz.
While hostilities have largely subsided since the April 8 ceasefire mediated by Pakistan, the US and Iran have exchanged strikes on several occasions, with each side accusing the other of violating the truce.
US-Israel war on Iran reaches 100th day
The US-Israel war on Iran entered its 100th day, as Washington said it had shot down two Iranian drones that posed a threat to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said it destroyed two Iranian drones “that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz”, hours after announcing it struck four other drones and coastal surveillance radar sites.
Tehran on Saturday fired a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait, drawing a furious response from the Gulf states.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced Saturday’s US strikes as “flagrant” violations while condemning Washington’s “hostile and provocative behaviour”.
Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has reiterated Tehran’s call for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
But Washington instead may seek to use those funds to pay for damage wrought by Iranian strikes on Gulf allies.
The US “Treasury will utilise all tools available to allow Iranian assets to be made available to our Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for any future damage caused by Iran”, a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking said. –Agencies
