Pakistan Army Chief Visits Tehran, Seeks to Bring Iran Back to Talks with US

Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir spent Monday moving through the corridors of power in Tehran: the presidential palace, parliament, the Supreme National Security Council, and the foreign and interior ministries.

He met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as well as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading Tehran's negotiating team in talks with the US aimed at ending a six-month war.

But amid the impasse in peace talks, analysts say Munir's real test as a mediator will be his ability to use his position as one of the region's most powerful military leaders to persuade Iranian counterparts in uniform to return to negotiations with Washington.

The gap between Iran's government and military

Days before Munir's visit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a group of doctors in Tehran that it was time to end the war while Iran held the advantage, a message aimed at both Tehran's security establishment and Washington.

"It is better for us to end the war now while we are in a position of power and dignity," he said, adding that "the whole world recognizes our victory."

Just hours later, on August 21, Iran's Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, threatened a "revolutionary, crushing, regrettable, and brutal" response to any US miscalculation.

That underscores a clear divide between Iran's president and those running its military — a divide Munir will need to manage, according to analysts.

So Munir's most important meeting of the day may have been with General Mohsen Rezaei, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei is essentially the bridge between the military and the supreme leader.

War context

Munir's Tehran visit came on the same day the region and the world braced for the "economic D-Day" sanctions that US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on Iran, along with a warning to sanction any country that continues to trade with Tehran.

That same day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled a comprehensive sanctions campaign called "Operation Economic Outcast" targeting Iran's digital assets, gold, aviation, technology, and maritime shipping networks.

While warning other countries to cut trade ties with Iran, Bessent did not actually announce sanctions against those countries, acknowledging such a step would "blow up the global financial system."

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth left the door open for renewed airstrikes: "If we need to use military force, we will. If Iran is stupid enough to overplay its hand or touch US forces, we will do what we need to do."

It remains unclear whether Munir's visit will help deter broader US action against Iran and its trading partners.

But the timing is notable, analysts say. Munir arrived in Tehran days after receiving a phone call from US President Donald Trump, who is said to have asked Islamabad to use its influence to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the one-day visit generated "comprehensive discussions" on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war. Iranian officials, according to ISPR, "appreciated Pakistan's constructive role and sincere efforts."

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who accompanied Munir, went further, calling the talks "very positive and productive" and saying "significant progress has been made."

Iran's military restructured

This was Munir's fourth trip to Tehran this year, but the first since Iran's military command structure was reshuffled earlier this month.

On August 10, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appointed Abdollahi as chief of staff and moved Rezaei to the Supreme National Security Council. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has held that position since March, when his predecessor was killed in airstrikes that opened the war.

These military officers, analysts say, are shaping Iran's wartime decisions, giving a uniformed figure like Munir an advantage over traditional diplomats in persuading Tehran to return to negotiations.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the IRGC and the broader security establishment are holding the war-and-peace decisions in this crisis," Ahmed Saeed, a former Pakistani vice admiral and defense analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Interior Minister Naqvi has been to Tehran eight times since April without producing a real breakthrough. But unlike him, Munir is not a politician. He is a general widely believed to enjoy the trust of both Iran's leadership and — more importantly — Trump, who has called the Pakistani army chief his "favorite marshal."

"The phone call (with Munir days earlier) was initiated by Trump himself, asking Pakistan's leadership to use its influence to get Iran back to the negotiating table," Saeed said.

Warm words, but no movement

What Iranian officials actually told Munir, according to Iranian state media accounts, was not much different from what they have been telling their own broadcasters all week.

"We do not trust the US, and the US must change its behavior," Rezaei told Munir, according to IRNA.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf was more blunt: "We are pursuing the implementation of the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, and the US is the party that must adhere to its commitments based on that memorandum."

Meanwhile, Pezeshkian asked Munir to convey to Washington the need to "adjust its tone and approach," warning that "relying on force and bullying will only complicate the process," according to Tasnim.

Two channels, one strait

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi was also expected in Tehran that day for a separate round of talks focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a parallel channel to Pakistan's mediation over the past months.

Oman's involvement is not new. Albusaidi has held periodic talks with Tehran on maritime rules in the strait.

Ejaz Haider, a defense analyst in Lahore, said the Omani and Pakistani diplomatic channels complement each other: "The Omani and Islamabad channels are complementary because Article 5 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding emphasizes bilateral understanding on the strait (between Oman and Iran)." The Strait of Hormuz passes through the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

"This (an agreement between Iran and Oman to jointly manage the strait) is not in America's interest, which is why Trump threatened to bomb Oman," Haider said, referring to Trump's August 17 remarks on Fox News that he would bomb Oman if it "got in the way" of reopening the strait — the second time he has threatened the US ally over Hormuz.

Islamabad's advantage as a mediator lies in its ability to "get direct access to Vahidi, Abdollahi, and Rezaei — the real architects of Iranian decision-making," said Saeed, the former naval officer.

An Iranian official close to the talks, speaking anonymously, said Albusaidi would come to Tehran "mainly to hear what Iran has decided and what it has discussed with the Pakistani mediator."

Who holds the leverage?

Andreas Krieg, associate professor of defense studies at King's College London, said the divergences between Iran's military and civilian leadership reveal gaps in their understanding of the war's position.

Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf, Krieg said, "are essentially warning that Iran cannot live like this forever," while "a faction of the IRGC believes the opposite and thinks time is against Washington."

But ultimately, he said, "Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Vahidi, and the IRGC are the key to whether any political understanding (to end the war) can be implemented."

"(Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas) Araghchi can negotiate something, and Qatar can mediate, but it all means nothing if the security apparatus does not accept the operational consequences."

For now, Munir appears to be the candidate mediators believe has the best chance of bringing Iran's generals from the war room to the meeting room.