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Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is briefing the Senate on tensions in the Middle East that arose after the killing of top Iran commander Qasem Soleimani in a US air strike.
The minister began his speech by recounting how the crisis-like situation in the region unfolded, starting with the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad.
The foreign minister was directed by the Senate chairman to brief the upper house on developments on the foreign policy front last week.
Qureshi told the Senate that the repercussions of the strike that killed Soleimani were more severe than the 2011 raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the 2019 killing of militant Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
He said Iraq had sent its foreign minister to the United Nations to record protest because in their view the strike violated international law and UN charter. The Pakistani government presented its stance on the development on January 3.
"I have contacted the foreign ministers of major powers in the region. I have talked in detail with the Iran foreign minister and presented Pakistan’s stance on the incident," he said, adding that he also spoke with the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"The situation in the middle east is very sensitive, fluid and concerning."
He recalled that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has termed this strike as “international terrorism” and that he considers this act as dramatically escalating the regional situation.
The US Department of State, on the other hand, claims that the strike was carried out on the directions of President Donald Trump and was primarily a preemptive action, Qureshi said, adding that Washington has stated they had reports that Soleimani was planning to attack US soldiers and diplomats.
Pakistan had on Sunday reaffirmed its resolve not to become a part of any conflict in the region and renewed its offer for mediating in the Middle East crisis.
The offer was formally conveyed by Foreign Minister Qureshi during a telephonic conversation with his counterparts from Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
This was Qureshi's first contact with the Iranian leadership after the assassination of Maj Gen Soleimani in a US drone strike in Iraq on Friday.
SOURCE: https://www.dawn.com/news/1526630
