Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has arrived in Pakistan with the intention of mediating escalating tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi. This diplomatic visit comes in the wake of a tragic attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that took place last month, resulting in the deaths of 26 individuals. The assault has heightened tensions, with India attributing the blame to Pakistan.
Iran’s role in mediating tensions
Araghchi’s trip is significant as it is the first by a foreign envoy since the April 22 attack. Tehran has expressed its willingness to assist in de-escalating the ongoing crisis between the two nuclear-armed nations. In the meantime, Pakistan’s armed forces are on high alert, following claims from Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, who cited “credible intelligence” indicating a possible strike from India.
Pakistan has firmly denied any involvement in the attack and has extended an offer to cooperate with an impartial international investigation, a proposal that New Delhi has not yet accepted. Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, is scheduled to meet with Araghchi and has welcomed Iran’s mediation efforts. Moreover, Dar has engaged in discussions with over a dozen international counterparts in the past week, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We will not be the first to take any escalatory step,” Dar stated during a press conference in Islamabad.
Recent developments and military readiness
Despite the calls for mediation, Dar cautioned that any act of aggression from India would invoke a strong defense of Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” He also made allegations against the Indian Air Force, claiming an attempt to breach Pakistani airspace on April 28. According to him, Pakistani fighter jets were deployed to intercept and compel Indian aircraft to retreat, although India has not publicly addressed these allegations.
The already fragile relations between the two countries, historically strained by conflicts over Kashmir, have further deteriorated, with both nations expelling each other’s diplomats and restricting airspace access. In a recent event, Minister Tarar led a group of journalists to Bella Noor Shah, a secluded village near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which India had purportedly identified as housing a militant training facility. Local residents, however, refuted these claims, asserting that no such camp exists in their area.
“It is clear there is no truth to the Indian claim,” Tarar remarked.
On the military front, Pakistan’s forces announced the successful test launch of the short-range Fatah surface-to-surface missile, which boasts a range of 120 kilometers. This test marks the second missile launch in a matter of days, following a medium-range missile test conducted on Saturday. The missile was fired from an undisclosed location and, as is customary, was not aimed at India. Such projectiles typically fall into the Arabian Sea or the remote deserts of southern Balochistan.