Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to pay a visit to Iran and Saudi Arabia in a bid to mediate improvement of ties between Tehran and Riyadh, Pakistani newspaper Daily Express reported.

Daily Express said Islamabad aims to accelerate mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia and it is likely that Premier Nawaz Sharif or other Pakistani officials pay a visit to both Tehran and Riyadh.
Sharif has asked Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi to continue their contacts with Tehran and Riyadh for the easing of tensions, the newspaper added.

The newspaper noted that Pakistan has a plan to manage meetings with the presence of representatives of Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to calm tensions.

Daily Express said that Pakistan aims to include China, the U.S. and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the mediation process.

Sharif on Friday said Pakistan’s image abroad has improved due to the untiring efforts of his diplomatic team.

In what was described as a significant diplomatic mission to Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Pakistani prime minister and the country’s Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif met the Saudi and Iranian officials on January 18 and 19 in their respective capitals for what the government described as a move to defuse tension between the two Muslim countries that was sparked by Saudi execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and the subsequent attack on a Saudi mission in Iran by angry protesters.