Pakistan plays a key role in mediating the ceasefire between the US and Iran in easing the situation in the Middle East.

As the deadline set by US President Trump for Iran to agree to a ceasefire or face "hellish consequences" approaches, Pakistan has stepped forward as a key mediator and helped broker a two-week ceasefire. While the world prepared for the worst-case scenario, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif publicly called for both sides to agree to a ceasefire in order to buy more time to end the war completely. This move led to a turnaround in the US stock market and paved the way for Trump to announce a suspension of strikes against Iran after communicating with Sharif and Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir. Shortly thereafter, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif praised Sharif and Munir for their role in the mediation talks. Zarif confirmed the ceasefire on social media and expressed thanks and appreciation to the "dear brothers" for their "unrelenting efforts to end this regional conflict." The latest developments indicate that Pakistan has played a key role in easing the conflict, which has already cost thousands of lives and triggered an energy crisis, potentially leading to even greater economic damage. By using its close relationships with Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the US, Pakistan has built communication channels for the warring parties and has been relaying messages between them frequently in the past few weeks. "This is a major diplomatic victory for Pakistan and one of its most successful diplomatic policy cases in decades," said Michael Kugelman, senior research associate for South Asia at the Atlantic Council. "At least for now, this has helped to avoid one of the most serious conflicts in the world in recent years."