“So what is the difference between a mediator and a negotiator?”
“Same meaning my friend same meaning.”
“I don’t think so.”
“How come?”
“Well a mediator is someone who acts like a post office….”
“You gave away your age? No one talks of a post office anymore…. Modern day communication revolution where communication is instantaneous…..”
“Hey back off now! Our Post Office even has a Federal Minister. Aleem Khan, why are you laughing?”
“That poor guy didn’t get his just deserves.”
“Just deserves?”
“He dumped the party of The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless and in return got the Post Office!”
“Hey he is the Communication Minister under whose administrative control the Post Office is.”
“Right so he is a real estate chap and roads and bridges and….”
“Yep no conflict there. Besides, he does have protocol, but I don’t think he has too many powers.”
“Okay anyway a negotiator requires years of experience especially where the position of the two protagonists is so wide apart as in the case of the US and Iran”
“We got them in the same room for Pete’s sake! That’s something!”
“Yes it is.”
“They are exchanging their Point Plans through Pakistan.”
“Indeed they are, my question: what is with these Point Plans: fifteen points versus ten points versus fourteen points versus….”
“As a real estate man, oh just like Aleem Khan though on a much higher scale, President Trump likes numbers – remember last year’s June war? He got the entire world to refer to it as a 12-day war.”
“Hmm perhaps given that Witkoff and Kushner have no pending mediation plans……”
“Not negotiation plans?”
“I reckon they are mediating, anyway given there is no scheduled mediation that may occupy their valuable time why don’t they focus on giving more artistic names to the proposals by their team and the Iranian team.”
“Like what? Manet’s Plans versus Van Gogh….”
“That’s too deep for me.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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