ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host the “historic” signing ceremony of the US-Iran peace deal in Geneva on Jun. 19, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, crediting the country’s military and political leadership for brokering peace in the region.
Sharif had announced early Monday that the US and Iran had reached a peace deal and agreed to permanently end military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, after “intensive talks.” The Pakistani premier said the official ceremony of the deal signing will be held in Switzerland on Jun. 19.
US President Donald Trump also confirmed Washington and Tehran had signed the deal on Monday, announcing that he had authorized the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of the naval blockade targeting Iran.
“Mr. Speaker, the official ceremony of this historic agreement will be held on the blessed day of Friday, Jun. 19, in Geneva,” Sharif told lawmakers during a session of the parliament. “And this ceremony will be hosted by Pakistan with the grace of god.”
The Pakistani premier thanked Trump, the president and supreme leader of Iran as well as members of both countries’ negotiating teams for participating in talks to resolve the crisis. He also paid tribute to the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and Türkiye for playing a positive part in reducing tensions in the region.
“Mr. Speaker, I am also deeply grateful for the farsighted leadership and wholehearted support of my highly respected dear brother, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and my brother President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” Sharif said.
The Pakistani prime minister thanked Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for his efforts to broker peace between the US and Iran. He credited Munir for not giving up and continuing with peace efforts, particularly at times when it seemed the conflict would restart once again.
“Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir played an extraordinary role for this purpose [peace], for which the entire nation, including me, pays tribute to him,” Sharif said.
STICKING POINTS
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement on state television on Monday. However, he said Iran would not start implementing it until it was signed on Friday. Gharibabadi said the deal followed over 14 hours of talks in Tehran with a representative from Qatar, another mediator.
The war began in February when the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, saying the attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and that it does not intend to build a nuclear weapon.
Tehran responded by attacking Israel and US military bases in the Middle East, including civilian infrastructure in the region as well. The war dragged on for months, with Iran effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz waterway through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies are shipped, driving oil prices higher worldwide.
Pakistan has acted as the principal mediator between the US and Iran, hosting the first round of direct talks between both sides in April in Islamabad. Both sides were unable to reach an agreement, but Pakistan remained in contact with the leadership of Iran and the US, relaying messages and peace proposals between the two sides.
While the exact points of the deal were not disclosed by either Sharif or Trump, Washington and Tehran have differed over various points over the past few months as they sought a peace deal. These included managing the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran insisting it will maintain control over the key maritime trade route.
Since imposing its blockade, Iran has demanded vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting the waterway, and has established a new body to oversee it and collect tolls.
Another key sticking point in the talks has been the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, and particularly its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — believed to have been buried by US strikes last year during a previous short-lived war.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the only way to deal with Iran’s enriched uranium “is to dilute it inside Iran.”
Trump, who has justified the war as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, previously said the US would remove and destroy the uranium.
