Pakistan in the middle: What benefits and risks from US-Iran mediator? • FRANCE 24 English

There are those who want the US and Iran to settle… and those who want regime change. Among the latter, there’s Israel of course and then there’s the United Arab Emirates who’ve signaled OPEC’s cautious response as a reason for quitting the cartel. The end of OPEC? How will its biggest producer Saudi Arabia respond? The Emirates also seem to have it in for Saudi ally Pakistan, suddenly demanding the immediate reimbursement of a 3-and-a-half billion dollar loan from the cash-strapped facilitators of US-Iran mediation efforts. How did Pakistan emerge as a central player? What are the benefits and risks when you raise your hand to facilitate dialogue between sworn enemies, particularly when one’s your neighbor and the other's a global superpower that can scuttle an IMF bailout if relations sour? At the heart of it all is the powerful chief of the military, Field Marshall Asim Munir. He knows Iran well from his time as head of intelligence and has infuriated India by ingratiating himself with Donald Trump. But what if the US president turns out to be a fair weather friend? And can the art of the deal bring down prices at the pump for ordinary Pakistanis left reeling by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz?
#pakistan #uae #opec

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