By Ariba Shahid
ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Reuters) – Israel removed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf from its hit list after Pakistan urged Washington to press Israel not to target them, a Pakistani source with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.
“The Israelis had their coordinates and wanted to take them out, we told the U.S. if they are also eliminated then there is no one else to talk to, hence the U.S. asked the Israelis to back off,” the source said.
Pakistan’s military and foreign office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Israel’s military declined to comment, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the two top Iranian officials had been temporarily removed from Israel’s list of officials to eliminate as they explore possible peace talks. The two officials have been removed from the list for up to four or five days, the Journal said, citing U.S. officials, but did not mention any Pakistani role in it.
Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are playing the role of mediator between Tehran and Washington to end the Iran war.
Islamabad has maintained direct contact with both Washington and Tehran at a time when such channels are frozen for most other countries. Islamabad has also been seen as a likely venue if peace talks are held.
Iran is reviewing a 15-point proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump, sent through Pakistan, to end the war. The proposal calls for removing Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile program and cutting off funding for regional allies, according to Israeli cabinet sources familiar with the plan.
Trump has said Iran is desperate to make a deal, while Araqchi said Tehran was reviewing the U.S. proposal but had no intention of holding talks to wind down the conflict.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said that no senior Iranian official was immune from being attacked. Last week, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said that he and Netanyahu had authorized the military to target officials without prior authorization.
Asked whether Araqchi and Qalibaf had been removed from an Israeli hit list following a request from Pakistan, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said the military “has a rigorous process before every operation and every strike,” but added: “I’m not going to go into specific potential targets.”
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid and Saad Sayeed; Writing by Hritam Mukherjee and YP Rajesh; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, William Maclean)
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