British media: A new quartet of Middle Eastern countries emerges

Ask AI · How can the Middle East’s new “quad” group become a key driving force for a ceasefire?

Reference News Network March 31 report A report by the website of the British newspaper The Guardian on March 30 says that on March 29, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey held a meeting in Islamabad. The meeting not only represented the greatest hope for a ceasefire in the Iran war, but also showed signs of a new order aimed at curbing post-war regional dominance by Israel and Iran.

The report says that although these four countries have previously held meetings in a “quadrilateral” format, the one-day foreign ministers’ meeting held in Islamabad on March 29, to some extent, can be regarded as an official launch of a group initiative that has drawn the attention of diplomats.

Given the increasingly complex web of disputes, the group’s top priority is to persuade all parties to stop the escalation of hostilities and agree to a ceasefire. Yasmine Farouk, a Gulf affairs expert at the Belgian think tank International Crisis Group, said that is why the group will hold meetings more often.

Farouk said, “This four-nation group is starting to become extremely active, because this indeed is a dangerous stage of the war. We have already seen Israeli strikes damage nuclear power stations inside Iran, and they may also dispatch soldiers. This could make some Gulf countries that have, up to now, said they do not want the war to stop realize that the situation has gotten out of control.”

Farouk said, “Because if the targets of the attacks are desalination plants and power generation plants, and if this leads to a nuclear leak in Gulf waters, it will trigger a nationwide crisis within these Gulf countries.”

Some progress was made at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Islamabad on March 29. Ultimately, Iran agreed to allow ships flying the Pakistani flag to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, possibly allowing up to two such ships per day. This is a modest confidence-building measure.

In addition, the group will also become Iran’s main interlocutor, keeping the indirect negotiation channel between Tehran and the United States open. Iran insists that this is the only reliable channel, and that Donald Trump’s remarks about engaging Iran directly are fabricated lies in order to lower oil prices. (Compiled/ Hu Xue)