Aamir Latif
23 June 2026•Update: 24 June 2026
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Tuesday that Iran’s ballistic missile program was not part of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Iran and the US.
“I would say with fullest command at my domain that this MoU does not mention about ballistic missiles. It was never on the table, it was never on the agenda, and the Iranian side never even wanted to discuss about it.
"So that is not an impression, that is a fact of matter," Sharif said during his meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was on a visit to Islamabad.
Last week, US President Donald Trump and Pezeshkian electronically signed the MoU aimed at ending the war between the US, Israel and Iran and halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Sharif said there should be no double standards.
“There cannot be double standards, two standards, that some countries can have ballistic missiles and Iran shouldn’t have (them).
“You cannot digest this kind of duplicity," he added.
He claimed that there are "spoilers" who were seeking to scuttle the peace deal.
“They don’t want the Iranian nation, a great nation, to come out of the ashes of war and touch the zenith of glory,” he added.
Pakistan to continue to play mediation role
Sharif said that Islamabad will continue to play its mediation role to achieve "everlasting" peace in the region.
"We will carry on this important role until everlasting peace is in place on terms and conditions dictated by dignity and honor," he said.
Pezeshkian’s visit to Pakistan marks his first overseas trip since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28, hitting Iranian cities and triggering retaliation by Tehran before fighting stopped on April 8, when Pakistan secured a ceasefire.
Sharif offered his condolences for the loss of "thousands of precious lives" in the war, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and conveyed "complete solidarity" with the Iranian people from Pakistanis.
He thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for fully backing Islamabad's mediatory efforts to end the war.
He also warned against sabotage by those who “are unhappy with this armistice.”
Noting that Pakistan and Iran have always stood beside each other in testing times, Sharif said the two countries would work to bolster ties in trade, economy, investment and other sectors.
He said he will visit Tehran next week and announced that a Pakistani delegation will attend Khamenei's funeral.
