Pakistan has pulled off a spectacular diplomatic feat by saving the world from a catastrophic escalation potentially spiralling into a Third World War. Its highly balanced stance on the military conflagration in the Middle East, backed by constant, intensive and honest diplomacy soliciting peace, has finally paid off. When the world was waiting with bated breath for the expiry of the deadline given to Iran by President Donald Trump, vowing ‘death for a whole civilisation’ and unspeakable pain for Iran, Pakistan’s leadership was intensively pleading for peace with Washington DC, Tehran and other major capitals.

President Donald Trump’s threats had created the spectre of a destructive move to end the war. His frustration knew no bounds. He was desperate to find an off-ramp to exit the war. He had apparently forgotten all his war objectives and was only obsessed with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He feared the imminent collapse of the global economy and his potential humiliation in the mid-term elections. These fears rendered him amenable to wise counsel for restraint and acceptance of the Iranian list as the framework for peace.

Just hours before the deadline, President Donald Trump accepted a two-week ceasefire on all fronts and immediate talks based on the Iranian ten-point list as the framework for peace. This left Tehran with no excuse to reject the ceasefire and talks. This was a momentous occasion. The ceasefire, though provisional, brought a sigh of relief to the world and the capitals in the vicinity of the theatre of war.

War is hell, and only the dead have seen the end of it. Not too long ago, the world had impotently watched the brutal destruction of Gaza and the death of over 80,000 Palestinians, including a huge number of children. Iran has experienced a long and brutal reality of........

© The Friday Times