ISLAMABAD, AUG 5: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir are set to visit Saudi Arabia tomorrow, Pakistani sources told Al Arabiya English on Wednesday.
The trip comes at a time when the region is witnessing a flurry of diplomatic activity with the US-Iran conflict and its regional impact at the forefront.
Pakistan has acted as a mediatior in the conflict that has spilled over to the Gulf states due to Iranian attacks.
Control of the strait, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean that is the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods, has been a main sticking point in efforts to resolve the US-Israeli war on Iran.
It has been largely blocked since the start of the war in late February.
US President Donald Trump has called off an attack on Iran earlier this week in order to give way for talks.
Pakistan has received positive signals from Iran on the reopening the Strait of Hormuz under regional oversight, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported on Tuesday.
The country’s Ambassador to Moscow, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, said in an interview with Russia’s TASS that there were closed contacts regarding the current conflict between Washington and Tehran.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran would be “hit very hard” unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened “very soon,” in an interview with Fox News.
“The strait is going to be open very soon, or they’re going to get hit very hard — and then the strait’s going to be open,” Trump said during a visit to California.
“We’re having very good discussions,” he said, insisting that Iran was keen to find a way to bring an end to a conflict that began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
“The only thing that matters is action. And they want to make a deal. We’ll see what happens.”
