New York, Sep 24: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday both US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia had asked him to mediate with Iran to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Khan had met both Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, before which he had met with Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
“Trump asked me that if we could de-escalate the situation and maybe come up with another deal,” Khan told reporters during addressing leaders at the UNGA session. “Yes, we did convey this, and yes, we’re trying our best,” he said.
“I immediately spoke to President Rouhani yesterday after the meeting with President Trump. I can’t say anything right now more than this except that we’re trying and mediating,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron has on Tuesday said conditions have been created for a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The statement comes a few days after both Trump and Rouhani ruled out any possibility of face-to-face dialogues on the margins of the UNGA 2019 session.
However, Macron said the decision of holding a bilateral meeting still remained under control of both leaders over whether they seek to move forward, according toAl-Jazeera news reports.
On Sep 16, Iran said President Hassan Rouhani will be not meeting his United States counterpart at the United Nations (UN), a few hours after White House stated it left doors open for the potential nuclear dialogues between Rouhani and Trump, according to Reuters.
On Sep 18, Trump stated, “I’m not looking to meet him. I don’t think they’re ready yet but they’ll be ready,” Trump said. “I never rule anything out but I’d prefer not meeting him,” according to Reuters.
Iranian officials have reiterated their refusal to a meeting and any possible dialogues with the US while Tehran is still under strict US sanctions, which Trump re-imposed post withdrawing from 2015 landmark international Iranian nuclear accord, inked between Tehran and world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange of sanctions relief.
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