Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Wednesday as part of ongoing mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The Pakistani military chief travelled alongside a formal delegation and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, signalling the high-level nature of Islamabad’s diplomatic engagement in one of South Asia’s most sensitive geopolitical files.
The visit comes days after negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend between Iranian and American representatives concluded without agreement on uranium enrichment levels—a core sticking point in decades-long tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Pakistan has emerged as a critical backchannel for communications between Washington and Tehran, a role that reflects Islamabad’s delicate position as a neighbour to Iran with significant strategic ties to the United States. The timing of Munir’s visit underscores Pakistan’s military establishment taking direct ownership of the mediation process rather than leaving it solely to civilian diplomatic channels.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters in Tehran that exchanges between the United States and Iran through Pakistan had continued since the Iranian delegation returned home on Sunday. Baqaei stated that several messages had been exchanged and that Tehran expected a Pakistani delegation to arrive shortly as talks continued. This marks a pattern of shuttle diplomacy in which Islamabad serves as the primary conduit for back-and-forth messaging when direct US-Iran channels remain frozen or unreliable due to mutual mistrust.
On the substance of negotiations, Baqaei reiterated Iran’s position that its right to uranium enrichment was non-negotiable in principle, though the degree and type of enrichment remained open for discussion. “The right to peaceful use of nuclear energy could not be taken away under pressure or through war,” he stated, framing Iran’s nuclear programme as a sovereign entitlement rather than a security threat to be constrained. Baqaei also characterised some American demands during the Islamabad talks as unreasonable and unrealistic, though he did not elaborate on specifics, leaving room for further negotiation.
Pakistan’s elevation of this mediation role reflects Islamabad’s broader strategic calculus. As a nuclear weapons state with its own security concerns in the region—particularly regarding extremist groups—Pakistan has incentive to prevent further escalation between Washington and Tehran. A nuclear-armed Iran facing military conflict with the United States could destabilise the entire region, creating refugee flows, sectarian spillover, and increased space for militant organisations that threaten Pakistani security. Simultaneously, maintaining good relations with Washington, a source of military aid and strategic partnership, requires visible efforts to restrain Iranian ambitions.
The involvement of Interior Minister Naqvi alongside the military chief suggests that Pakistan’s civilian government is fully aligned with the military on this initiative, at least publicly. This unity of messaging is significant given Pakistan’s history of civil-military friction. The joint delegation signals to both Iran and the United States that whatever commitments emerge from these talks carry weight across Pakistan’s institutional power structure. For Iranian officials, engagement with Pakistan’s top security leadership offers reassurance that any agreement will not be undermined by Pakistani foot-dragging or reversal.
The forward trajectory remains uncertain. Iran has consistently demanded sanctions relief as a precondition for major concessions on enrichment levels, a demand the Trump administration—which withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement—is unlikely to grant without significant Iranian movement first. Pakistan’s mediatory capacity, however skilled, cannot resolve this fundamental impasse without one side shifting its bottom line. Observers will watch whether Munir’s Tehran visit yields any movement on the sequencing of steps—whether sanctions relief comes first or Iranian nuclear concessions—or whether the talks remain locked in familiar deadlock. The coming weeks will signal whether Pakistani mediation can catalyse genuine negotiations or whether it amounts to diplomatic theatre masking unchanged positions from both sides.
