PM Imran Khan. Suggested reading: Video: MP Shashi Tharoor’s marvelous defense of secularism in India
Source: Dawn.com | ReutersUpdate
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that US President Donald Trump had asked him to help defuse tensions with Iran, adding that he had already spoken with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in an attempt to mediate.
While addressing a press conference in New York, the premier said: “I immediately spoke to President Rouhani yesterday after the meeting with President Trump, but I can’t say anything right now more than this except that we’re trying and mediating.”
Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing sanctions on Iran in a stated campaign of “maximum pressure”.
The United States blames Iran for an attack on the world’s biggest crude oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia on September 14 and has said they will present evidence to back that up.
Prime Minister Imran said that prior to arriving in New York he had visited Saudi Arabia and spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who also asked him to talk to Rouhani.
When President Trump was asked about Imran’s remarks, he said the premier would like to mediate, adding: “we have a very good relationship and there’s a chance that that could happen”.
“A lot of people would like to get us to the table. We’ll see what happens but so far we have not agreed to a meeting,” Trump said on a possible meeting with Rouhani while they are both in New York this week.
Plight of 8 million Kashmiris
During the press conference, Prime Minister Imran highlighted the plight of eight million Kashmiris who are suffering “in an open jail” under a lockdown in India-occupied Kashmir and warned against the possible massacre of residents once the curfew is lifted.
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