What happened
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Thursday, 16 July 2026, that the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding it helped broker between the United States and Iran remains a “highly viable template” for peace, even as it acknowledged that the mediation process is facing “severe challenges.”
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made the remarks at his weekly press briefing in Islamabad, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
“Admittedly, the mediation process is currently facing severe challenges because the logic of escalation is prevailing. However, we hope that this logic of escalation will eventually be overcome by the rationality for peace and dialogue,” Andrabi said. “A peace process never dies; it may be placed on the back burner temporarily, but it remains viable.”
He said that whenever the parties concluded that the cycle of escalation had exhausted itself, a return to peace would be guided by the template of the Islamabad MoU, alongside the roadmap in the Pakistan-Qatar Joint Statement of 22 June 2026.
The fighting
The briefing came as the United States and Iran traded attacks for a tenth consecutive day. According to the Foreign Office transcript, Pakistan has repeatedly called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from actions that could further undermine regional peace and stability.
The renewed hostilities have centred on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it had closed the waterway, and the United States reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports, disrupting a channel that carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war. The disruptions have pushed oil prices higher and raised concerns about inflation and energy security well beyond the region.
Andrabi said Pakistan recognised the urgent need to address the impact of the situation on global energy supplies and other commodities, including trade and food security, and expressed the hope for an early normalisation of navigation in the strait.
Diplomacy
The spokesperson set out a week of high-level Pakistani outreach. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke by telephone with the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on 10 July to express solidarity after recent attacks on Qatar, and separately with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian the same day, calling for restraint to safeguard recent peace gains.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held calls with his Saudi and Iranian counterparts, and travelled to Shanghai to sign the instrument establishing the China-initiated World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization on Pakistan’s behalf. On 13 July, Shehbaz, accompanied by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, visited Doha to offer condolences on the death of the former Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Pakistan has positioned itself as a mediator in the conflict since hosting talks earlier this year. A previous push to de-escalate produced the Islamabad MoU, whose implementation is now in question as fighting continues.
Why it matters
For Pakistan, the conflict is both a diplomatic opening and an economic risk. The country imports most of its energy needs, and higher oil prices feed directly into inflation, freight costs and the import bill. In this environment, the credibility of Pakistan’s mediation is tied to whether the parties return to the framework it helped design.
The Foreign Office underlined that it sees no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue and diplomacy, and said it would keep encouraging all sides to end the violence and resume technical-level talks. It also linked the crisis to the wider Global South, warning that developing countries are being adversely affected by the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
What is still uncertain
Pakistan did not announce a new mediation initiative, and officials gave no timetable for a resumption of technical-level talks. The spokespeople did not say whether the United States or Iran had responded to the latest calls for restraint, and no new commitments on reopening the Strait of Hormuz were disclosed.
The fate of the Islamabad MoU therefore depends on decisions in Washington and Tehran. Pakistan’s position, as stated on 16 July, is that the framework remains available should both sides choose to return to it.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 2026-07-16.
- Associated Press of Pakistan — "Amid renewed Iran-US hostilities, Islamabad MoU remains highly viable template for peace: FO spox"16 July 2026 · The Foreign Office briefing, Andrabi's remarks on the mediation process and the Islamabad MoU, and Pakistan's diplomatic outreach.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan — "Transcript of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson on Thursday, 16 July 2026"16 July 2026 · The official transcript of Pakistan's position on the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz and regional diplomacy.
