Pakistan's Interior Minister in Tehran.. Bearing a Message for Khamenei

SadaNews - For the third time in a few days, amid escalating tensions between Iran and America, following mutual strikes between them over the past hours, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meets with Iranian officials.

Naqvi traveled today, Saturday, to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials, according to Mehr News Agency.

Meanwhile, sources told Al Arabiya that progress had been made regarding the frozen funds, with ongoing disputes about the amount and timing of their release.

It was added that the Pakistani Interior Minister would carry a message from Army Chief Asim Munir to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Additionally, it was clarified that Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had given the Interior Minister special instructions concerning the negotiations.

Quick Response

Sources also indicated that Naqvi would discuss ways to reach a memorandum of understanding in Tehran and pointed out that communications between America and Iran are transmitted through Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Wittkowitz.

Furthermore, it was noted that U.S. President Donald Trump had informed brokers that he does not wish for the negotiations to extend beyond 60 days and that Iran needs to respond quickly.

Stalled Negotiations

Earlier, the Pakistani minister met with his Iranian counterpart Iskandar Momeni twice on Thursday and Friday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Interior Ministers meeting in Kyrgyzstan, where the two officials exchanged views on the relations between the two countries and the latest regional developments, according to the Pakistani Interior Ministry.

These Pakistani efforts come as Iranian-American negotiations have reached a deadlock or at least have been stalled after signs of hope emerged a few days ago.

Tehran has insisted on the demand for the release of half of its frozen funds abroad ($12 billion) at the beginning of signing a preliminary agreement with the United States, with the remainder to follow within two months. However, Washington expressed reservations about this issue.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that the focus is on finding a specific mechanism for the payment of those funds.

It is worth noting that some obstacles also still face the Iranian nuclear file, the details of which have been postponed to after the signing of the initial agreement within 60 days.

It should be noted that Islamabad has played the role of mediator between the two countries for months, trying to bring their views closer, and hosted lengthy direct talks between them last April, though they did not lead to results.

However, it continued its efforts to overcome obstacles to reach an agreement to end the war that erupted on February 28 between Iran on one side and Israel and America on the other.