Pakistan's prime minister says his country is ready to "facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks" to end the Iran war.
Shehbaz Sharif made the comment in a post on X.
Pakistan is one of the countries pushing diplomatically for talks between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump said Monday there were ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
"Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict," Sharif wrote.
Earlier, the Foreign Office (FO) responding to media queries urged to avoid speculation and await official announcements about the venue for talks between the US and Iranian representatives.
"Pakistan, consistent with its longstanding policy, remains committed to the resolution of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Persian Gulf through diplomatic means and engagements," FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said.
"Diplomacy and negotiations often require that certain matters be advanced with discretion. The media is therefore encouraged to refrain from speculation and to await official announcements regarding decisions and outcomes," he said.
Reports about Pakistan serving as a potential venue for peace talks emerged after US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had put off threatened strikes on Iranians power plants for five days after “very good and productive conversations” with Tehran.
The reports further suggested this was the outcome of an initiative pushed by Pakistan along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
Iran's powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf - the interlocutor on the Iranian side, according to an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter - said no talks had taken place, describing suggestions that they had taken place as "fake news".
Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir spoke to Trump on March 22, and this was followed by a phone call between Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian the next day.
The Financial Times and Axios have reported that senior officials from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkiye engaged US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi to pass messages about finding a possible off-ramp.
The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran's nuclear program although mediator Oman said significant progress had been made.
Since then, Iran has attacked countries that host US bases, struck Gulf energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.