How we got here: Inside Pakistan’s backchannel diplomacy that led to the US-Iran ceasefire

Diplomacy does its best work when no one is looking. In calls that stretch for hours, in proposals dismissed publicly but refined privately, in capitals that deny mediation even as they pass messages. Over the past two weeks, as missiles crossed the Gulf and ultimatums replaced rhetoric, Pakistan tactfully slipped into that space: not loud enough to claim the stage, but persistent enough to keep the curtains from closing. After nearly two weeks of...