Pakistan, Oct. 7 -- Diplomacy's DividendUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday, credited Pakistan with playing a "pivotal role" in efforts to bring the United States and Iran back towards diplomacy, pointing to Islamabad's part in the talks that produced the Islamabad memorandum and the ceasefire that followed.

His remarks have landed at a time when the conflict remains unsettled, and disagreements over sanctions, maritime security and implementation of earlier commitments continue to hold up further progress. For Islamabad, they also amounted to unusually direct international recognition of a diplomatic effort that required it to maintain working channels with Washington, Tehran and several regional capitals at the same time....