Iran's foreign minister in Pakistan amid tensions with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, walks to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo Thursday, May 16, 2019. Iran’s foreign minister has said his country is committed to an international nuclear deal and criticized escalating U.S. sanctions “unacceptable” as he met with Japanese officials in Tokyo amid rising tensions in the Middle East.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (not pictured) at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Friday, May 17, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran's foreign minister is in Pakistan on a critically timed visit amid a crisis between Tehran and Washington and ahead of next week's emergency Arab League meeting called by Saudi Arabia as regional tensions escalate.

Mohammad Javad Zarif was holding talks on Friday with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Ahead of his arrival in Islamabad, Pakistan's foreign ministry had called on "all sides to show restraint, as any miscalculated move, can transmute into a large-scale conflict."

Tensions have ratcheted up in recent months and the U.S. sent additional warships and B-52 bombers to the Gulf.

Pakistan walks a fine line with neighboring Iran, despite their sometimes prickly relationship, and ally Saudi Arabia, which this week announced a $3.2 billion deferred oil and gas payment package for energy-strapped Islamabad.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-foreign-minister-in-pakistan-amid-tensions-with-us