Pakistan Army Chief Visits Iran for Third Time This Year, Seeking to Revive US-Iran Dialogue

Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, will travel to Tehran on Monday for talks with senior Iranian officials, according to a statement from Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday. This marks Munir's third visit to Iran this year, as Islamabad continues to push its mediating role to end the war between the US, Israel, and Iran.

Unnamed Pakistani officials confirmed the trip to Al Jazeera but declined to disclose details of the agenda. Notably, the announcement of the visit came from Tehran rather than Islamabad, while Pakistan's military and diplomatic authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the visit would build on Pakistan's efforts to "enhance peace and security in the region." The trip follows two phone calls between Munir and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi within four days, on Wednesday and Saturday last week.

Third visit this year

Munir's first trip to Tehran took place in April, days after the first direct negotiations between the US and Iran in over four decades ended in Islamabad without a breakthrough. He returned to Iran in May, just hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced "small progress" in the talks.

This visit comes as the diplomatic channel based on the Islamabad Memorandum is nearly stalled, while Washington prepares a new round of sanctions. Discussions are expected to address the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey on August 7, along with the activities of the Houthi forces in Yemen—a group believed to receive support from Tehran and which has repeatedly threatened to expand the conflict.

The Houthi issue is particularly significant for Pakistan, as three of its sailors were killed and several others wounded in an attack on a Tanzanian-flagged commercial vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on August 11.

According to Iranian journalist Reza Afzal Samir, Munir is expected to meet with Iran's newly appointed senior military leadership, including the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, respectively Generals Ahmad Vahidi, Ali Abdollahi, and Mohsen Rezaei. All were appointed earlier this month.

Agreement expired

The visit comes at a sensitive time for Pakistan's mediation efforts, which have played a leading role since the war broke out six months ago. The 60-day term of the Islamabad Memorandum, signed by Pakistan, Iran, and the US on June 17, expired in mid-August without any party agreeing to extend it.

Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, insisting that Washington must first lift its naval blockade, end oil sanctions, release Iranian assets abroad, and halt military threats. Tehran argues the US has not met these conditions.

Munir's trip coincides with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's expected announcement of the details of a sanctions package that US officials describe as the "strongest in history" against Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry calls it "economic war."

The past month has also seen a regional reshuffle, as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed a joint defense treaty on August 7, under which an attack on one signatory would be considered an attack on all three. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran earlier this month to revive mediation efforts but returned without concrete results.

Regional tensions have also escalated as the UAE suspended trade and financial transactions with Iran after claiming it was targeted by two ballistic missiles fired from Iranian territory, an accusation Iran denies.

However, analysts say Munir's visit shows that key regional mediators have not given up on reviving Iran-US dialogue, even as they balance ties with both Tehran and Washington. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, who has also had recent phone calls with Araghchi, is expected in Tehran on Tuesday.

How much influence does Islamabad have?

Analysts remain divided on the likelihood of substantive outcomes from the visit, given Pakistan's limited capacity to enforce any agreement it helps mediate.

Political analyst Qamar Cheema of the Sanober Institute in Islamabad said: "Both sides see Pakistan as a country that helped facilitate dialogue without personal stakes in the outcome. That provides a certain clarity and the ability to propose an exit for all parties."

Javad Heiran-Nia, director of the Gulf Research Group in Tehran, believes Pakistan's persistence partly stems from self-interest: "Pakistan fears an escalation and the outbreak of a new full-scale war between Iran and the US, which would further destabilize the region." He pointed to Islamabad's reliance on imported energy from the Gulf and the risk of disrupting remittances from Pakistani workers there if instability spreads.

Retired Brigadier Zahid Mehmood, a Pakistani defense strategist, went further, describing Munir as still carrying Washington's proposal to Tehran: "Pakistan is still essentially carrying Washington's exit to Tehran. It remains the most reliable channel available."

However, not all analysts see Pakistan as central. Andreas Krieg, associate professor of defense studies at King's College London, argued that Qatar is the primary political mediator: "Qatar leads political mediation and remains the essential communication bridge between Washington and Tehran." Munir's contribution, according to Krieg, is narrower: "a military-to-military channel into an Iranian system where the IRGC and the broader security structure are increasingly important for war-and-peace decisions."

What Munir can deliver

Iranian journalist Samir believes Pakistan holds weight in Iran's calculations due to its capacity for action: "Why should Iran listen to Pakistan? Because Pakistan still retains the leverage to actually do something and create a real opening for peace, rather than staying silent and doing nothing."

Samir also predicted the visit could pave the way for progress in the Strait of Hormuz talks: "I think the timeline for a final agreement between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is approaching. If Munir succeeds in bringing Iran back to the negotiating table, I expect a new announcement from Oman and Iran on the strait shortly after."

Krieg was more cautious about what the visit might achieve. The most significant outcome, he said, would be "confirmation that Iran's security structure will respect a specific agreement on de-escalation at Hormuz and restraint in Yemen or Iraq escalation if Qatar can secure a reciprocal move from the US." Otherwise, "the communication bridge remains open, but both sides continue heading toward a new cycle of coercion."

Retired General Mehmood was more emphatic: "Pakistan is really the only escape card that both sides can use to back down."