Pakistan at UN Security Council: Iran nuclear situation has 'sharply deteriorated', all sides must show restraint

Pakistan has told the UN Security Council that the situation around Iran's nuclear programme "has sharply deteriorated" and urged every side to show restraint and avoid words or actions that could raise the risk of a wider conflict. Usman Jadoon, Pakistan's acting permanent representative to the UN, spoke at a Council briefing on Iran and nuclear non-proliferation in New York on Tuesday, Dawn reported from Washington.

What Pakistan said

• Escalation is hurting the Council's work. The deterioration, Jadoon said, is making it harder for the Security Council to deal with the Iran file at all.
• Restraint from everyone. Pakistan asked all parties to avoid rhetoric and steps that could push the region closer to conflict.
• Let the IAEA do its job. Technical questions about Iran's compliance should be handled by the International Atomic Energy Agency without politicisation, and the agency should be allowed to work without hindrance.
• Diplomacy has worked before. He cited the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed in June as proof that negotiation can still make progress, and thanked Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt and China for supporting it.

The background

The 2015 nuclear deal capped Iran's programme in return for sanctions relief. The United States left it in 2018, during Donald Trump's first term, and later efforts to revive it failed. Pakistan's statement comes as fighting involving Iran continues: a Pentagon estimate now puts the US cost of the Iran war at more than $47 billion, Business Recorder reported, and oil prices rose again after an attack on a Saudi refinery.

Why it matters at home

Pakistan shares a long border with Iran, imports most of its fuel from the Gulf and has millions of workers there. Every escalation shows up here quickly: in the petrol price, which is now revised almost daily, in the rupee-dollar rate, and in remittance flows. That is why Islamabad has positioned itself as a mediator, hosting the talks that produced the June memorandum.

Pakistan made a separate case at the UN this week for curbing or abolishing the Security Council veto; our story on that has the details.