Was China the key player behind Iran truce? Pak journalist Hamid Mir explains
India Today
Senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, in an exclusive interview with India Today, said Pakistan and China worked in tandem to get Iran on board for the ceasefire deal with the US and Israel.
More than two weeks of frantic diplomatic efforts by Pakistan to get the US and Iran to reach a ceasefire would have come to nought had not China intervened at the eleventh hour, senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said. In an exclusive interview with India Today, Mir emphasised that Pakistan and China worked in tandem to get Iran on board for a ceasefire deal.
The US, Israel and Iran eventually secured a fragile two-week truce, hours after US President Donald Trump warned that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital energy waterway.
Mir pointed towards Pakistan's unique geopolitical position behind its role as a negotiator. He said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir enjoyed a special relationship not only with Trump, but also with the Iranian president and the Chinese leadership.
"On April 7, Trump made a very nasty statement. After that, China helped Pakistan to convince Iran to agree to the ceasefire," he told India Today.
However, Mir was quick to assert that Pakistan and China were only playing the role of a facilitator rather than a direct mediator.
"Pakistan and China were playing the role of facilitator in coordinating with Iran," he said.
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