This is not new."NUCLEAR EXPERTS URGE TRUMP NOT TO LET IRAN STEER TALKS AWAY FROM REGIME'S ATOMIC THREATKeane’s criticism contrasts with Trump’s public praise for Islamabad.Trump said April 26 during a phone interview with Fox News that he had "great respect for Pakistan" because its officials had "been terrific" and "really tried" to advance negotiations with Iran. "So their influence here, I think,had played a part in misleading the United States in terms of Iran’s real intentions."TRUMP SAYS SAUDI NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WON'T MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT ABRAHAM ACCORDS: 'THEY HAVE TO BE A MEMBER'Pakistan and Qatar have played formal roles in diplomatic process.A June 22 joint statement from the two countries said they were mediating talks between the United States and Iran under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
The framework established working groups on nuclear issues, sanctions, monitoring and dispute resolution,as well as a mechanism intended to prevent incidents involving commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.Pakistan declined to comment on Keane’s criticism. The Saudi and Qatari embassies in Washington did not respond by the time of publication.Raza Rumi,editor-at-large of Pakistan’s The Friday Times,disputed Keane’s characterization, arguing that Islamabad’s working relationship with Tehran does not make it a compromised mediator.IS THIS TRUMP’S LAST ‘LAST CHANCE’? CEASELESS STRING OF BROKEN CEASEFIRES FUELS DOUBT OVER IRAN DEAL"Successful mediators are often those that enjoy channels of communication with all sides," Rumi told Fox News Digital, saying Pakistan’s approach is shaped more by geography, security and economic concerns than ideological alignment with Iran.He noted that Pakistan shares a long border with Iran and wants to prevent further instability, while also maintaining longstanding ties with United States and close partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Rumi also pointed to the exchange of strikes between Pakistan and Iran in January 2024 as evidence that relations between neighbors are not uniformly close."The suggestion that Pakistan somehow caused Washington to misunderstand Tehran’s intentions is difficult to substantiate," Rumi said. "It would be a considerable stretch to attribute any American misreading of Iran’s intentions to Pakistani mediation."Keane directed even sharper criticism at Saudi Arabia,saying that Riyadh denied the United States access to Saudi airspace and a U.S. air base during preparations for a possible operation to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He also claimed Saudi officials had repeatedly persuaded Trump not to resume major military operations against Iran."The fact of the matter is,the Saudis are not willing to sacrifice to rid the Middle East region of Iran’s aggression," Keane said, describing the potential costs as casualties and damage to Saudi oil infrastructure."They’re willing for us to make that sacrifice, for sure," he added. "They think it’s a strategic asset."He predicted Iran would seek to retain some degree of control over the waterway and warned that reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program would be even more difficult."My gut feeling here is no," Keane said when asked whether Iran was prepared to reach and implement substantive agreement.
"The president is not going to make a bad deal here."
