On Tuesday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative will host a virtual discussion examining Pakistan’s emergence as the central mediator between the United States and Iran.

On April 11 and 12, Pakistan hosted the first high-level, in-person engagement between US and Iranian officials since 1979. The twenty-one-hour meeting in Islamabad ended without a deal, but Pakistan has drawn extensive international praise for brokering the two-week cease-fire and keeping diplomacy alive. With the truce set to expire on April 22, Field Marshal Asim Munir has traveled to Tehran, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is engaging key players across the region, and US officials have signaled that a second round will “very likely” take place in Islamabad.

This event will explore how Pakistan positioned itself as the chief mediator in this conflict, how Washington and Tehran have come to view its role, and where this leaves Islamabad moving forward, including its place in ongoing peace efforts, the risks if talks collapse, and the implications for its broader foreign policy and strategic interests.

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