Mohammad Javad Zarif, minister of foreign affairs of Iran, told his Pakistani counterpart on Wednesday that the government in Tehran was prepared to participate in efforts to ease tensions in Kashmir. Media in Iran carried a readout from the phone conversation with Shah Mahmood Qureshi which revealed the country's top diplomat urged Pakistan and India to show restraint after both sides lost fighter jets in a burst of hostilities.
The update from Tehran came after President Hassan Rouhani rejected Zarif's resignation, speculated to have been prompted by circumstances around the surprise visit by Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Rouhani has come under pressure by hardliners in parliament amid a surge in inflation and the decision by the United States to withdraw from the global nuclear deal, which enabled the abolishment of sanctions against Iran.
Zarif is said to be expected to speak to India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, too. Earlier, he also talked on the phone with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria Walid al-Muallem.
