Iran FM Araghchi to visit Pakistan, India this week, days after offering to mediate to reduce tensions

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to visit Islamabad and Delhi, offering mediation between India and Pakistan amid tensions.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will arrive in Islamabad on Monday (May 5, 2025), ahead of a visit to Delhi later this week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced in Tehran on Sunday. The visit by Mr. Araghchi to India had been planned several weeks ago. Now, coupled with the visit to Pakistan, it takes on an added mission, after he offered to mediate between the two “brotherly neighbours of Iran”.

Mr. Araghchi will travel back to Tehran after his talks in Islamabad on May 5, and then travel to Delhi on May 7-8, so as to avoid ‘hyphenating’ the two visits, sources said. Both India and Pakistan have closed their airspaces to aircraft owned or operated by the other side, although the measures do not technically affect aircraft operated by a third country.

In Islamabad, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit reflects “the deep-rooted and strong relationship between Pakistan and the brotherly nation of Iran”, but did not refer to talks on the tensions with Delhi after the Pahalgam terror attack. During his visit, Mr. Araghchi will meet Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and call on Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the MoFA statement said.

Also read: Iranian President condemns Pahalgam terror attack, calls for regional unity against terrorism

On April 25, Mr. Araghchi had said in a post on X that Tehran stood “ready to use its good offices in Islamabad and New Delhi to forge greater understanding at this difficult time”, and quoted a 13th-century Persian poem, calling for empathy in a time of “pain”. Mr. Araghchi has spoken on the telephone to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Mr. Dar in the past week, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack and express condolences, and spoke to Mr. Sharif about India-Pakistan tensions.

Also read: More Gulf nations call for lowering tensions between India, Pakistan

The MEA has, thus far, not responded to calls for mediation or de-escalation of tensions, saying only that India appreciates the messages of solidarity and condemnation of the terror attack that it has received. India has always rejected calls for third-party mediation on bilateral issues, although India-Pakistan back-channel talks have been facilitated by a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).