Pakistan is struggling to keep playing peacemaker between the United States and Iran as both sides increase military attacks while still saying they are open to talks, the New York Times reported on July 16, 2026. A peace deal between the US and Iran that was signed around June 2026 has fallen apart by mid-July. The region is back in open conflict, and Pakistan's effort to mediate is now in trouble.

The collapse reverses what looked like progress in mid-June. On June 13, Reuters reported that Pakistan's prime minister said a deal to end the Middle East war was expected within 24 hours. A preliminary agreement was signed on or around June 15, with Pakistan's prime minister as a key mediator. But American and Iranian officials disagreed about what the deal actually required from the start, which foreshadowed its fragility. The United States also lifted sanctions — penalties meant to pressure Iran economically — for 60 days in June, according to Reuters. That temporary relief has now lost the political agreement that gave it meaning.

The current fighting is centered on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which about a fifth of the world's oil supply travels. Iran disrupted shipping through the strait, as Reuters reported on June 22. US-Iran talks focused on the strait wrapped up in Doha in early July, Reuters reported on July 1. But by July 11, Reuters reported that Iran had expanded attacks on nearby Gulf states after US strikes and declared the strait closed to ships without authorization. This vital shipping lane is now an active war zone.

Pakistan's response has been firm but limited. Al Jazeera reported on July 8 that Pakistan said the renewed US-Iran conflict is "in no one's interest" and that it "remains ready to continue playing its role" in calming things down. On July 12, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister held a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi to discuss regional matters, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 16. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif also made official visits to Iran and Türkiye from July 3 to 5.

Pakistan did not pick the mediator role on its own. In May 2026, China's Foreign Minister asked Pakistan's Foreign Minister to step up mediation between Iran and the United States. Qatar has also helped: Pakistan and Qatar jointly hosted a meeting called the Lake Lucerne Summit with both the US and Iran, tied to the negotiations in Doha. Anadolu Agency reported in April that Qatar urged Iran to work with Pakistan's mediation and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran itself said it appreciated Pakistan's constructive role, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 7.

This mediation effort has been going on for a while. A four-day war between the US and Iran took place in May 2025, according to Asia Times, ending in a ceasefire — a temporary halt to fighting — that gave Pakistan a diplomatic advantage. That ceasefire did not last. By April 2026, Vice President JD Vance said on April 11 that 21 hours of peace talks in Pakistan between the US and Iran had failed. Pakistani mediators led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir went to Iran around April 15 to keep talks going. Reuters reported on May 21 that Munir was possibly heading to Tehran for more talks. An academic study on SSRN looks at Pakistan's role as an active mediator during the 2026 crisis, though the study's publication date is not available.

The broader picture is that Pakistan is trying to mediate between two sides whose core demands seem impossible to reconcile and whose militaries are escalating at the same time. The June deal fell apart after the two sides interpreted its terms differently, which suggests the agreement was less a real settlement than a pause forced by pressure. The 60-day lifting of sanctions is still technically in place, but without a working political agreement, there is no mechanism to make sure both sides comply. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's expanded attacks on Gulf states, and the latest US strikes all point to a conflict that has gone beyond what back-and-forth diplomacy can control.

Pakistan's influence comes from three sources: China's explicit backing for its mediator role, Qatar's co-sponsorship and parallel pressure on Iran, and Iran's own stated appreciation of Pakistan's engagement. What Pakistan does not have is the power to force either side to stop. The United States has its own military forces in the region and does not need Pakistan's help to operate. Iran makes its decisions based on its own interests regarding the strait and its confrontation with the US, not out of deference to Islamabad. The New York Times' description of Pakistan struggling to make itself heard is less about diplomatic failure than about the fact that a mediator's tools lose their power when both sides are actively shooting at each other.

What happens next likely depends on whether the Lake Lucerne framework and the Doha talks can be restarted after the June deal collapsed. The July 12 phone call between Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Iran's Araghchi, and Sharif's early-July trips to Tehran and Ankara, show that Pakistan is still working its contacts. Whether those contacts lead anywhere depends on decisions in Washington and Tehran that Pakistan can influence but cannot control.