Pakistan’s mediation efforts between Gulf rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have been making slow progress, PM Imran Khan said on Monday. After the mediation was prompted by Washington, former cricket great Khan in October visited Tehran and Riyadh to facilitate talks, after attacks on Gulf oil interests that the US blamed on Iran, Reuters said.
“Our mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia has not stopped and we are making progress, but slowly,” Khan told Qatar-based Al Jazeera in extracts the broadcaster released from an interview. “We have done our best to avoid a military confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and our efforts have succeeded,” Khan was quoted as saying.
Shia Muslim Iran has long been at odds with Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, the US' Gulf ally. US-Iran frictions worsened when President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew in mid-2018 from the JCPOA nuclear deal with Tehran.