PAKISTAN’S role as a mediator between warring nations is both unusual and commendable, but after the failed US-Iranian talks in Islamabad earlier this month, there is no guarantee it will pay the desired dividends. At the time of writing, neither side had showed up for a second round of talks. There was still scope for hope that the recalcitrants would have second thoughts. Iran was understandably miffed when the US attacked and boarded one of its tankers. It’s hardly the kind of action that facilitates peace parleys. But the purported author of The Art of the Deal appears to believe that holding a gun to someone’s head is the best way of achieving the aggressor’s goals.

Not for the first time, Donald Trump has threatened attacks on civilian infrastructure such as power stations and bridges if no deal is agreed. We might have been in a different situation had the US reciprocated Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s conciliatory announcement about permitting all commercial shipping to transit the Strait of Hormuz by lifting its naval blockade. Instead, Trump declared that the blockade would remain until a deal was concluded. Araghchi was overruled by the IRGC, the opening was rescinded, and the squeeze on global oil and........

© Dawn