Hamid Mir
Long Live Pakistan.” These three words created a stir in the media around the world on April 4 as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi ended his statement posted on the social media platform X with these three words. The Iranian Foreign Minister also posted a video with his statement in which Iranian people were chanting slogans of Long Live Pakistan on the streets of Tehran. In his statement, Abbas Araqchi denied the reports of the American media that claimed that the Iranian leadership had refused to come to Islamabad for talks with the United States.
The Iranian Foreign Minister explained that the American media is not presenting Iran’s position correctly, we are grateful for Pakistan’s efforts for peace, but we need guarantees to make the talks a good outcome. This statement was issued by a foreign minister whose book is called ‘The Power of Negotiations’ and the English translation of this book has also been published. Abbas Araqchi made every possible effort to settle matters with the United States using the power of negotiations. He was involved in the negotiations with the US in 2025 and again in February 2026. During the negotiations in 2025, the US attacked Iran along with Israel, and in 2026, the US also used the negotiations as a deception. Even after being deceived twice, the Iranians are ready for negotiations, but they want guarantees that they will not be deceived a third time in the name of negotiations. Abbas Araqchi’s problem is not Pakistan, but the betrayal and deceit of US President Donald Trump.
This is why when he denied the false news of the American media on X, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar thanked him on X. There is a long background to the words “Long live Pakistan” in Abbas Araqchi’s statement. Abbas Araqchi is an eyewitness to many such incidents in which Pakistan tried to stop the war even before it started and tried hard to achieve a ceasefire even after the war started.
Several days before the US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, Abbas Araqchi was given a message from Pakistan that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Ishaq Dar wanted to come to Tehran and meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Peshkeshian and other important figures to avert the threat of another attack on Iran. There was no definitive response from Iran to Pakistan’s message that war had begun. When the war broke out, Ishaq Dar was in Saudi Arabia for Umrah. He immediately issued a statement condemning the attack on Iran. When Iran began attacking US military bases in the Gulf countries after the assassination of its Supreme Leader, Ishaq Dar also condemned these attacks. Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar contacted Abbas Araqchi on the phone and condemned the attack on Iran, reminding him that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a defence cooperation agreement, so Iran should not put Pakistan to any test. Abbas Araqchi assured Dar that if there is no attack on Iran from Saudi Arabia’s airspace, Iran will not attack Saudi Arabia either.
Ishaq Dar asked Abbas Araqchi if he should convey this message to the Saudi government? Abbas Araqchi replied in the affirmative. Dar conveyed this message to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan. A few days later, on March 18, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Turkey and Pakistan met in Riyadh to find a way to end the war in the Middle East. A bilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of the 12 countries was underway before the regular meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey and Pakistan. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Ishaq Dar that false flag operations were being carried out by Israel to drag Turkey into war. Hakan Fidan was the head of Turkish intelligence for eight years before becoming Foreign Minister and keeps a close eye on Israeli conspiracies in the region. When his mobile phone rang during the meeting, he took permission from Ishaq Dar and started listening to the call and then turned on the speakerphone. On the other side was Abbas Araqchi. The three of them started talking. Dar Sahib told Abbas Araqchi that attacks on Saudi Arabia are still ongoing and sirens are still ringing in Riyadh. You can hear the sirens. Abbas Araqchi assured the two friends that we are ready for fruitful talks but not for any deception in the name of talks. A short while later, a meeting of 12 foreign ministers began. In this meeting, some foreign ministers were more interested in issuing a joint condemnation statement against Iran than a ceasefire. Ishaq Dar urged the participants of the meeting that it is necessary to condemn not only Iran but also Israel because the attack was not carried out by Iran but by Israel. After some time, a draft of a detailed statement was released, in which only Iran was condemned. There was not a single word in the condemnation of Israel. Ishaq Dar refused to support this statement. The Turkish Foreign Minister and the Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji also supported Dar, although Raji, a representative of the Maronite Christian community of Lebanon, is a strong opponent of Iran. On this occasion, the Foreign Minister of a Gulf country said that after what Iran is doing to us, we want the atomic bomb to be used against it.
This was the occasion when the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and Turkey told the Foreign Minister that war is not the solution to any problem. Addressing all the participants, Ishaq Dar said that the entire Iranian nation cannot be destroyed with an atomic bomb. Israel should finish with Iran and turn to all the Gulf countries in turn because Netanyahu wants to create a Greater Israel. After much debate, a new draft of the joint statement included condemnation of Israel. In this regard, Saudi Arabia had great difficulty in convincing a Gulf country that supports Israel. A few days after this meeting, the foreign ministers of the four countries met again in Islamabad and further proposals for a ceasefire were considered. After this meeting, China contacted Pakistan, then Ishaq Dar, together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, presented a five-point formula for a ceasefire. This formula included the demand for ending the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and implementing the UN Charter, which the Trump administration does not seem to agree with. When this five-point formula of Pakistan and China received wide acceptance at the international level, the Trump administration was alarmed because the majority of the American people are also opposing this war against Iran. Whatever path of negotiations will emerge will come out of this five-point formula. Abbas Araqchi knows very well who Pakistan has tried to anger by trying to reach a ceasefire. He raised the slogan of “Long Live Pakistan” in his statement because Pakistan alone had the courage to warn the Gulf countries about the Greater Israel conspiracy at the 12-nation meeting in Riyadh.
