Pakistan’s clout grows as US official’s visit underscores its go-between role in Iranian affairs

“This visit of the US undersecretary is very significant in multiple contexts,” Nausheen Wasi, an international relations academic at the state-run Karachi University, said of Bass’ two-day trip from Tuesday.

Pakistan’s foreign office in a statement on Tuesday said “a productive discussion on all aspects of bilateral relation was held” during Bass’ visit, following a trip to Islamabad by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi a week earlier.

With tensions in the region running high, any further escalation by Israel would leave Pakistan, as a neighbour of Iran, the only “trusted ally to the US” in the vicinity, Wasi said.

“Pakistan’s strategic significance [is] tremendously [enhanced] … There are many such developments in the region that the US may ponder on, and it understands Pakistan’s role.”

During Raisi’s visit, Pakistan and Iran discussed completing a cross-border gas pipeline first mooted by both countries in the early 1990s and formally signed in 2013. While Iran has completed its segment, the construction of an 80km stretch to be built by Pakistan has been suspended amid fears of US sanctions.

Energy-deficit Pakistan hopes to tap cheaper sources to avoid paying heavy oil import bills due to its dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Islamabad and Tehran also agreed to increase bilateral trade to US$10 billion in the coming years from US$1.5 billion last year.

“Pakistan is not in a position to further delay the pipeline project as it would also have consequences,” said Nabila Jaffer, research analyst at the Institute of Regional Studies. She highlighted the severe implications of a penalty of US$18 billion demanded by Iran if Pakistan could not complete its part of the project.

Conversely, the prospect of US sanctions targeting