Imran Khan optimistic about meditation efforts
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in an interview with US media has expressed optimism about possible improvements in the Iran-US ties.
The premier said in an interview with CNN that during his visit to New York, the US president Donald Trump asked him, “You should try and go between Iran and the United States”.
During his recent visit to Iran, he also spoke to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about the US offer, he added.
The prime minister said in response to a question that the situation was evolving and he would not go into details.
“Let's see, it gets anywhere. I did not go into too much detail, until there is response from both sides."
He also admitted that relations between the two countries were more complicated. To another query, he expressed his optimism that there was realization on both sides.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Imran Khan paid an official visit to Riyadh as part of his mediation efforts between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said that Prime Minister Khan advised the the Saudi leadership to peacefully resolve regional disputes through diplomacy.
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has also welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative to de-escalate tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Talking to media in New York, a spokesman of UN Secretary General said, the UN chief welcomes any such effort as a matter of principle.
Earlier the premier visited Tehran where he held separate meetings with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.
Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi who accompanied Prime Minister Imran Khan during visit to Iran had said that Pakistan is making sincere efforts to establish peace in the region.
Talking to a private channel, he said that misunderstandings between the Iran and Saudi Arabia must be removed.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal while responding to a question of IRNA at his weekly news briefing had said, peace and stability in the region is our desire and we will do our best to defuse tensions in the Persian Gulf region.
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