Pakistan, May 24 -- In Tehran, as Washington weighed its next move and Middle Eastern capitals watched the Strait of Hormuz, Chief of Defence Forces Syed Asim Munir sat across from Iran's top leadership with a message the region urgently needed: no power can win from a burning Gulf. His meetings with President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni were not diplomatic theatre and would go down in history books as testament to how Pakistan's mediation had reached the room where decisions are made.

The engagements during a "short but highly productive" visit with Iran's senior leadership were held in a "positive and constructive environment," according to a...