Pakistan urges US and Iran to ratchet down tensions

[Swordsmyth]

Pakistan’s foreign minister said Monday the country would not be dragged into any conflict between the US and Iran as he urged both sides to lower tensions following the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani last week.Pakistan shares a 997-kilometre (620-mile) border with Iran, and for decades has tried to balance ties with Tehran with a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia -- while also representing Iran's consular interests in the US.
Tensions continued to mount across the Middle East Monday after a US drone strike killed the 62-year-old general in Iraq, prompting Iran to vow "severe revenge" on its long-time foe.
"We will not become part of any efforts to light a fire, nor will we allow our soil to be used against any other state as part of our policy to prevent instability in the region," foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told parliament.
"It will be disastrous if conflict breaks out. It will also engulf us," he added, while offering to help mediate as it Pakistan has done in the past.
Last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan travelled between Saudi Arabia and Iran in a bid to defuse tension between the rivals.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-urge...005609592.html

[Swordsmyth]

Pakistan's foreign minister, who has shuttled between Washington and Tehran in the course of a week, voiced confidence Friday that Iran was seeking to lower tensions.Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi discussed Iran and Afghanistan's peace process Friday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, five days after seeing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
While stopping short of saying that he was transmitting any message, Qureshi said he understood that the Iranians "did not want to escalate things."
"They don't want war, they don't want further bloodshed," Qureshi told reporters in Washington.


Qureshi, whose country has strong relations with Saudi Arabia, said that the Iranian leadership also signalled a willingness to ease tensions with its Arab neighbors.
The Iranians "highlighted the issues, the differences, they have had with other important countries in the region," he said.
"They said they are willing to engage at any level and in any format," Qureshi said.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-fm-v...223126144.html