PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad, June 21, 2026. Pakistan occupies an unprecedented position in the Strait of Hormuz crisis: the negotiations were conducted from its capital, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif co-signed the Iran-US memorandum of understanding in his role as mediator. This direct involvement shapes Pakistani media's particularly attentive reading of unfolding events.

According to Dawn, PM Sharif announced Thursday morning that the deal had been signed electronically by both presidents. "The memorandum was signed by the esteemed presidents of both countries and also endorsed by me as mediator," he stated on X. The accord stipulated that as an initial step, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz "instantly" while the United States would lift its naval blockade "immediately." President Trump signed during a candlelit dinner at Versailles Castle following the G7 summit.

Yet the fragile equilibrium fractured almost immediately. The Express Tribune reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Iran-US memorandum. Citing an Israeli official quoted by CNN, the newspaper notes that Netanyahu may attempt to influence the 60-day negotiation process through media figures and sympathetic senators to pressure Washington. According to the same official, the Israeli leader believed no final agreement would be reached and that Tehran would not genuinely accept curbs on its nuclear program.

These tensions directly disrupted the diplomatic calendar. Geo News indicates that scheduled US-Iran talks Friday in Switzerland were canceled when fighting resumed in Lebanon, before an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was eventually concluded around 4 p.m. Lebanon time. Trump, in a statement reported by NBC News, reportedly urged Israel to honor it: "Sometimes you have to calm down and use your head."

The Express Tribune notes that JD Vance arrived Sunday in Switzerland to resume quadrilateral talks—Iran, United States, Pakistan, and Qatar—at the Bürgenstock Hotel. A 45-minute bilateral meeting took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis. According to IRNA, quadrilateral discussions were to begin shortly thereafter in another section of the same complex. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards had meanwhile declared the Strait of Hormuz closed in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, although the US military asserted commercial vessels continued transiting.

For Islamabad, the stakes transcend regional geopolitics: Pakistan's credibility as a mediating power is directly at risk. The "Islamabad Memorandum" represents a first in Pakistani diplomatic history at this level. National media emphasize Pakistan's participation in quadrilateral talks in Switzerland as evidence of international recognition, while acknowledging underlying vulnerabilities: each strike in Lebanese territory, each suspension of talks, weakens the architecture that Shehbaz Sharif helped construct.