The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia expressed “deep concern” on Saturday over the escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran, according to readouts from both capitals, in a diplomatic intervention that underscores growing regional alarm despite the existence of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad just weeks earlier. The telephone call between Pakistan’s Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud focused on the deteriorating security environment and the risk that a return to open hostilities would unravel the June 2026 agreement, which was brokered with Pakistani facilitation and formally named the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in recognition of that role.

From Islamabad’s perspective, the current trajectory threatens to squander the diplomatic capital invested in the MoU. The Pakistani foreign ministry’s readout stressed that the country’s leadership is urging “all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to give mediation efforts the time and space needed to achieve a peaceful and meaningful outcome.” Pakistani officials, who have positioned the country as a key intermediary between Iran and the West, view the MoU as a fragile but essential framework that requires active protection from escalatory cycles. The call with Riyadh was part of a broader diplomatic push; separately, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also held discussions on Saturday, emphasizing the need to return to the negotiating table and to safeguard the ceasefire and understanding between the US and Iran.

From Riyadh’s vantage point, the kingdom’s readout highlighted that Prince Faisal shared the Saudi perspective on ongoing diplomatic efforts and stressed the importance of de-escalation and continued dialogue. Saudi Arabia, which has pursued a dual track of rapprochement with Tehran and deepening security ties with Washington, views any collapse of the US-Iran understanding as a direct threat to its own regional stability agenda. Gulf capitals, including Doha, have invested heavily in mediation infrastructure, and a return to military confrontation would not only jeopardise those efforts but also risk destabilising energy markets and reigniting proxy conflicts across the Middle East.

The joint message from Islamabad and Riyadh signals that the diplomatic channel which produced the June MoU remains active, but that its gains are precarious. Both governments agreed that “renewed conflict serves no one’s interests and undermines efforts for regional peace and stability,” according to the Pakistani statement. With the MoU’s implementation now under strain, the coming days are expected to see intensified shuttle diplomacy, with Pakistani and Saudi envoys likely to engage directly with Iranian and American counterparts to prevent a further unravelling of the hard-won understanding.