A Qatari negotiating team arrived in Tehran on Friday to help reach an agreement to end the war with Iran and resolve outstanding issues.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said the Qatari delegation is currently holding talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, adding that Pakistan remains the main mediator in the negotiations.
Doha, which has played a mediating role in the Gaza war and other areas of international tension, has so far distanced itself from taking on a mediating role in the war with Iran after being attacked by Iranian missiles and drones during the latest conflict.
The source explained that the team traveled in coordination with the United States and seeks to help “reach a final agreement that ends the war and addresses outstanding issues with Iran.”
While Pakistan has assumed the role of official mediator since the outbreak of fighting, Qatar’s return to engagement reflects its long-standing role as a US ally in the region and a reliable parallel channel of communication between Washington and Tehran.
The fragile ceasefire in the war that began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28 remains in place, with no major progress made, as negotiations stall amid a US blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran keeping the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed.
A senior Iranian source said on Thursday that no agreement had yet been reached with the United States, but that the gaps had narrowed. He added that Iran's enriched uranium and Tehran's control of the Strait of Hormuz remained among the sticking points.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted some progress, saying, “There are positive signs… I don’t want to be overly optimistic, so we’ll see what happens in the coming days.”
Asked on Friday about the Qatari team in Iran, Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Sweden that Pakistan was the main channel for talks and that it had done "a great job".
He added, “It is clear that other countries have interests, especially the Gulf states, which are at the heart of these events, and each has its own situation. We are in contact with all of them. But I can say that the main country we have worked with on this issue is Pakistan, and it remains so.”
Pakistani army chief in Tehran
In a related context, the Pakistani army stated that its commander, General Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Friday, where he is scheduled to meet with the Iranian leadership.
Iranian media had previously announced the trip.
The Iranian news agency ISNA said that Munir “arrived in Tehran on Friday evening as part of mediation between Iran and the United States to end the war and resolve differences.”
The Iranian agency quoted unnamed officials as saying that “Assem Munir’s visit… does not necessarily mean that an agreement on the initial framework has been reached” between the United States and the Islamic Republic.
Munir is an influential figure in Pakistan who has been playing an increasingly important role in foreign policy. He made a key contribution to the direct talks between Iranian and American delegations in Islamabad in April, as part of his country's efforts in cooperation with regional states.
There is a sense of optimism within Pakistani security circles that a preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran is imminent.
Sources indicated that Munir was scheduled to travel to Tehran on Thursday, but he was waiting for the green light from Iranian negotiators regarding the possibility of realistically reaching a preliminary agreement.
It is currently unknown which points will be up for discussion.
This visit comes two days after US President Donald Trump warned that talks were at a “crossroads” between an agreement and a resumption of strikes.
It is said that Munir has good relations with Trump and is seen as a mediator between the warring parties.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, a close associate of General Munir, is currently in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and has met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi several times in recent days for talks, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency.
