Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran with message from Pakistan leadership to Iranian Supreme Leader

TEHRAN/ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has reahed Tehran to deliver a high-level military and diplomatic message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, as Islamabad intensifies its efforts to mediate between Washington and Tehran following a sharp escalation in Gulf hostilities.

Naqvi’s visit comes after latest direct exchange of strikes between US forces and Iran threatened to unravel a fragile ceasefire that had largely held since April.

“I am here to deliver a special letter from the field marshal [Chief of Defense Forces General Asim Munir] for his Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei and a message from the prime minister [Shehbaz Sharif] regarding the current situation,” Naqvi told reporters in Tehran late Saturday, standing alongside his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni.

The diplomatic mission was triggered by a rapid weekend surge in military actions.

Earlier on Friday, the US military said it shot down Iranian ballistic missiles and drones over the Strait of Hormuz, subsequently launching retaliatory strikes against Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard retaliated on Saturday by targeting the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait, which hosts US forces, and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Both Gulf nations issued swift condemnations of the attacks.

The exchange of fire comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Tehran to force a comprehensive deal to end the regional conflict, which is now nearing its 100-day mark.

Pakistan’s Mediation Role

Pakistan, which shares a long border with Iran while maintaining close strategic ties with both Washington and Gulf Arab countries, has carved out an increasingly visible role as an intermediary.

“Islamabad has mediated for months between the US and Iran ever since their military confrontation began in February, relaying messages between both sides and exchanging peace proposals,” a diplomatic source familiar with the matter told Arab News.

While Pakistan hosted an initial round of direct talks between US and Iranian representatives in April, those negotiations failed to yield a permanent breakthrough.

Naqvi’s meeting with Momeni in Tehran marked their third face-to-face discussion in three days, following two previous meetings on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) interior ministers’ gathering in Bishkek earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Sunday. Both leaders discussed issues of mutual interest and agreed to further strengthen cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, according to a post on the official X account of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.