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The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia convened in Islamabad on Sunday for two days of talks focused on ending the war in the Middle East, with proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, including a possible management consortium and Suez Canal-style fee structures, according to Reuters correspondent Idrees Ali.
Türkiye's Hakan Fidan joined Pakistan's Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Faisal bin Farhan and Egypt's Badr Abdelatty at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed. Iran, the United States and Israel were not represented, a Pakistani foreign ministry source told Reuters. The meeting is set to continue Monday.
Pakistan had said Iran had agreed to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged vessels, roughly two ships per day, to pass through the strait.
Reuters, citing five sources familiar with the matter, reported that the four countries have floated proposals to Washington tied to maritime traffic and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. A Pakistani source said the proposals, including those originating from Egypt, had been forwarded to the White House before Sunday's session and included Suez Canal-style fee structures for transit through the waterway.
Two Pakistani sources said Türkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could form a consortium to manage oil flows through the strait and had asked Pakistan to participate. "The management consortium proposal has been discussed with both the U.S. and Iran," the sources said.
A Turkish diplomatic source framed the maritime question as secondary to the broader goal of ending the conflict, saying Ankara's priority remains securing a ceasefire. "Ensuring the safe passage of ships could serve as an important confidence-building measure in this regard," the source said. Türkiye has separately warned that an international coalition may form if the Hormuz crisis continues unresolved.
Pakistan has emerged as a central diplomatic intermediary between Iran and the United States. Islamabad has already delivered U.S. President Donald Trump's 15-point peace plan to Tehran, and an anonymous source cited by Iran's Tasnim News Agency said Iran has since passed a response to the plan back via Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian by phone for over an hour on Saturday, describing Pakistan's ongoing diplomatic outreach. Pezeshkian thanked Islamabad "for its mediation efforts to stop the aggression."
Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has been in regular contact with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, according to a Pakistani source. Fidan and Abdelatty also held a joint meeting with Munir on the sidelines. Pakistan's foreign minister, meanwhile, tagged Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi directly in a post on X announcing the Iranian ship concession, writing that "dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward."
Islamabad's positioning reflects a rare convergence of diplomatic assets: longstanding ties with Tehran, close contacts in the Gulf, and a personal rapport that Sharif and Munir have cultivated with Trump.
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