Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi's post on X has slammed into Pakistan's critics like a Shahed drone. And thank God for that.

He wrote on Saturday "Iran's position is being misrepresented by U.S. media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us. Pakistan Zindabad."

Our Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar replied to Aragchi: "Truly appreciate your clarification, my Dear Brother."

The need for stating this officially cropped up because The Wall Street Journal ran a story quoting unnamed sources that Iran had decided not to take part in negotiations in Pakistan. Reuters news agency ran a report based on the WSJ story and many publications, including Pakistani ones, published it. Since then, a surge of sentiments against Pakistan flooded our social media timelines. Nauseating I-told-you-so's began spreading like toxic fume through various platforms and accounts.

Turns out, unnamed sources were wrong. The diplomatic process is still alive and Pakistan is still very much in the centre of it. Which brings me to my main point today.

Pakistan may be faulted for many things, but today – here and now – diplomacy is not one of them. Allow me to explain.

Conventional wisdom says a country's diplomatic strength has a direct correlation to its economic prowess. By this definition, Pakistan is punching beyond........

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