Pakistan military 'cautiously optimistic' on Iran-US mediation

Key Points:

• Pakistan’s military, led by Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, is "cautiously optimistic" about its mediation efforts to de-escalate the eight-month-old Iran-US conflict, with Munir having visited Tehran twice this month alongside Saudi and Turkish officials.
• The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, aims at collective deterrence and regional security amid shifting Middle East alliances, and its membership could potentially expand to include Iran if political leaders agree.
• Pakistan remains committed to defending Saudi Arabia and its holy sites but is not involved in the Yemen conflict, which it describes as an intra-Yemen issue, despite renewed fighting between Saudi forces and Iran-aligned Houthis.
• Domestically, Pakistan’s federal government suspended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government led by jailed former PM Imran Khan’s PTI party over alleged failures to combat militancy, while the military plans to intensify intelligence-based counter-terrorism operations in the region.
• The military denies involvement in political affairs despite accusations from PTI supporters that it orchestrated Khan’s imprisonment and the dismantling of his party, reflecting ongoing tensions between civilian political factions and the armed forces.