On Wednesday evening, Field Marshal Asim Munir stepped off his plane in Tehran and was immediately embraced by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, marking another high-stakes move in Pakistan’s quiet diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
His arrival came just days after the United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement following more than 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, a breakdown that prompted President Donald Trump to impose a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz while still praising Munir’s “fantastic” efforts as a mediator.
Carrying a recent proposal from Washington for a fresh round of negotiations, Munir positioned himself as the essential conduit between the two sides — a role underscored by his ability to secure direct communication with both American and Iranian leadership when official channels faltered.
Analysts and former diplomats have long noted that Pakistan’s foreign policy is often shaped not from Islamabad’s civilian institutions but from Rawalpindi, where the military headquarters directs international engagement, a dynamic clearly visible in Munir’s current mission.
“Field Marshal Munir is the driving force – without him this would not perform,” said Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, the United States, and the United Kingdom, adding that foreign ministries on both sides treat him as a trusted interlocutor while viewing their own officials as secondary players.
His influence was evident earlier when frantic backchannel communications, initiated by Munir’s phone calls, helped secure a last-minute ceasefire after Trump warned that Iran’s civilization would “die” without a deal — a moment when Munir was again present as the third party in the room during direct talks in Islamabad.
This week, while Munir shuttled between Tehran and Washington, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pursued a parallel diplomatic track, traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey to build regional backing for Pakistan’s peace initiative, a dual-track strategy described by Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid as essential to sustaining momentum.
For more on this story, see Pakistan Mediates US-Iran War Talks With Focus on Nuclear Program Breakthrough.
In Tehran, Munir’s talks with Araghchi focused on reviving negotiations centered on three core issues: the duration of Iran’s uranium enrichment freeze, the fate of its stockpile of 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, and compensation for wartime damages, with the Strait of Hormuz’s reopening also critical to stabilizing global oil markets disrupted by Tehran’s closure of the waterway.
Bin Javaid noted that while both sides remain divided between accepting a five-year or twenty-year enrichment halt, there is growing belief that a compromise exists in the middle range, alongside discussions about whether Iran would export its nuclear material, downgrade it to natural uranium, or limit enrichment to low levels.
The conflict, which began with joint U.S. And Israeli strikes on February 28, has resulted in over 3,000 deaths in Iran and provoked retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, while also reigniting hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have killed more than 2,000 people since March.
A ceasefire between the U.S. And Iran on April 8 halted direct combat between those nations, but Israeli strikes in Lebanon have continued, underscoring the fragility of any regional stabilization dependent on broader diplomatic outcomes.
As Munir continues to ferry messages between capitals, his role highlights how informal, backchannel diplomacy — often led by military figures in Pakistan — can persist even when formal negotiations stall, filling gaps left by traditional state-to-state channels.
Why is Pakistan’s military leadership leading diplomatic efforts instead of the government?
Analysts note that it is not unusual for Pakistan’s army chief, an unelected but powerful position, to shape foreign policy and represent the country internationally, even when civilian administrations are in charge, due to the military’s institutional control over security and intelligence assets.
What are the main obstacles to a U.S.-Iran agreement?
The central sticking points include the length of any enrichment freeze on Iran’s nuclear program — with positions ranging from five to twenty years — and the disposition of Iran’s 440-kilogram stockpile of highly enriched uranium, alongside disputes over compensation for wartime damages and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
How has the conflict affected the broader region?
The war, launched by the U.S. And Israel on February 28, has killed over 3,000 people in Iran, triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes on Gulf countries, and reignited fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have killed more than 2,000 people since March.
