Why Iran’s President Pezeshkian is heading to Pakistan after US-Iran talks

Islamabad, Pakistan – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to arrive in Islamabad for a state go to that is as a lot a gesture of gratitude because it is an announcement of intent.

The journey on Tuesday – his first abroad go to since the USA and Israel launched assaults on Iran on February 28 – comes a day after Pakistan and Qatar introduced that the primary spherical of high-level US-Iran talks in Burgenstock, Switzerland, had yielded a 60-day roadmap in the direction of a closing deal.

The timing is not incidental. Pezeshkian arrives in Islamabad having simply signed probably the most vital diplomatic settlement of his presidency. The deal faces the identical factional fault strains at house that overshadowed the 2015 JCPOA negotiations.

The 2015 JCPOA, or Joint Complete Plan of Motion, was a landmark nuclear settlement between Iran and 6 world powers – the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.

In accordance to the deal, Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear programme in trade for reduction from worldwide sanctions. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018, throughout the first presidency of Donald Trump.

“The truth that Pezeshkian is going to Islamabad instantly after signing the MoU tells us that he wants to convert this fragile settlement into political capital – at house, inside the state, throughout the area, and internationally,” Reza Khanzadeh, a Center East analyst and professor at George Mason College, informed Al Jazeera. “He wants this go to greater than Pakistan does.”

Through the go to, Pezeshkian will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated the Switzerland talks, and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistani Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, Nationwide Meeting Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and Deputy Prime Minister and International Minister Ishaq Dar may also meet the Iranian president, in accordance to Pakistan’s Ministry of International Affairs.

The 2 sides are anticipated to focus on the Switzerland talks and methods to deepen bilateral cooperation in commerce, vitality, border safety, and regional connectivity.

Relationship cast via disaster

The go to is Pezeshkian’s second to Pakistan because the Iranian president.

After the 12-day Iran-Israel struggle in June 2025, Pezeshkian selected Pakistan as his first international vacation spot, travelling to the jap metropolis of Lahore earlier than heading to the capital Islamabad.

Twelve bilateral agreements have been signed. A goal of $10bn in annual commerce – up from roughly $3bn – was pledged.

“Pakistan is the primary nation chosen by President Pezeshkian to come and personally specific his gratitude and appreciation for the Pakistani political, army, and other people of Pakistan for his or her dedication, for his or her assist, for his or her efforts to pursue the mediation mission,” Afzal Reza, bureau chief of Iran’s official state information company IRNA in Islamabad, informed Al Jazeera.

However the Pakistan-Iran relationship has not at all times been congenial. In January 2024, Iran launched missile assaults inside Pakistan’s Balochistan province, claiming to goal the armed group, Jaish al-Adl.

Pakistan retaliated inside 48 hours, launching a sequence of assaults in opposition to hideouts of armed teams in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The 2 neighbours recalled their ambassadors, because the confrontation was described as one of the vital critical army escalations between them in a long time.

Nonetheless, either side stepped again rapidly. Iran’s then-foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, travelled to Islamabad to de-escalate tensions, and diplomatic ties have been step by step restored.

Months later, President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran alongside Amirabdollahian.

Pezeshkian received the snap election that adopted and took workplace in July 2024, inheriting a fragile however repaired relationship with Pakistan.

“Pakistan is not simply facilitating messages,” Khanzadeh mentioned. “Iran is signalling that Islamabad has change into politically invested within the consequence of the method.”

‘Iran participating from place of sovereignty’

For the reason that US-Israel assaults on Iran started on February 28, Sharif and Pezeshkian have spoken by telephone at the very least seven occasions, typically in conversations lasting up to an hour, in accordance to officers.

Pakistan’s military chief, Subject Marshal Asim Munir, travelled to Tehran at the very least twice, whereas Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi additionally made a number of visits as a part of Pakistan’s mediation efforts.

The diplomacy culminated in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 18 by Trump and Pezeshkian, with Sharif signing the doc as a mediator.

The latest name between the 2 leaders occurred on June 18 – the day the MoU was signed – and lasted greater than half-hour. It was throughout that dialog that Sharif invited Pezeshkian to go to Islamabad.

The primary spherical of talks in Burgenstock, which concluded on Sunday, produced a number of outcomes: A high-level political committee, working teams on nuclear points and sanctions, a communication line on the Strait of Hormuz, and a de-confliction mechanism for Lebanon. Technical discussions are persevering with this week.

Khanzadeh argued that whereas Burgenstock is internet hosting the technical negotiations, Islamabad gives the political monitor for the talks.

“What Islamabad can obtain that Burgenstock can not is political trust-building,” he informed Al Jazeera.

“Technical negotiations can draft mechanisms, timetables, and verification language, however they can not by themselves create the political cowl wanted for leaders to take in concessions or handle spoilers.”

Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Iran, informed Al Jazeera he stays cautiously optimistic concerning the Iranian president’s go to.

On Iran’s nuclear programme, he mentioned Tehran is “comfy not adopting the nuclear weapon route” and would adjust to IAEA safeguards. The larger prize, he mentioned, is sanctions reduction.

“Already, for 60 days, Iran has been allowed to export its oil to the world market. In order that’s an enormous reduction,” Durrani mentioned.

On the difficulty of Lebanon, Durrani was extra direct. The duty for guaranteeing that Israel honours any understanding reached between Washington and Tehran falls on the US, the previous envoy mentioned.

“The primary article of the Islamabad MOU is very particular about peace within the area, together with Lebanon,” he informed Al Jazeera. “If Israel thinks that it was not a part of the deal, that is their headache and their enterprise to take care of the USA.”

Pezeshkian’s go to additionally boosts Pakistan’s diplomatic standing, analysts say. By selecting Islamabad publicly, Khanzadeh mentioned, Iran is validating Pakistan’s function from a facilitator to a recognised regional mediator.

For Pezeshkian, too, he added, the journey carries home significance.

“It permits Pezeshkian to present that diplomacy is not capitulation, that Iran is participating from a place of sovereignty, with regional companions, and never merely responding to American stress,” he mentioned.