Pakistan news took a new turn on Tuesday evening when Asim Munir arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials. It is his fifth visit to Iran since the April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, and he is traveling with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Munir is expected to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi first. Pakistan has been working between Washington and Tehran since fighting began on February 28, and the trip comes as new military escalation remains a live risk for Iran, the US, Pakistan and the wider Middle East.
Tehran visit after Lavrov talks
The arrival followed Sergey Lavrov’s talks in Tehran on Monday, his first visit there since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February. Lavrov met Abbas Araghchi and Masoud Pezeshkian, and the discussions covered the war, the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end the fighting.
That sequence matters because Pakistan is not acting alone. It is moving alongside other diplomatic channels, and Munir’s presence gives Islamabad a military-to-political line into Tehran at a time when the US has added military assets to the Middle East and negotiations over Iran remain unsettled.
June memorandum of understanding
Iran says the US failed to meet its commitments under the June memorandum of understanding. Under that deal, the US was to lift its naval blockade within 30 days, the Strait of Hormuz was to reopen, and about $24bn in estimated frozen Iranian assets was to be released in phases over 60 days of further talks.
The 60-day period expired in mid-August without either side agreeing to extend it. Pakistan’s mediation since April 8 has therefore sat on top of an agreement that did not survive the deadline, which is why the Tehran talks are focused on preventing another round of fighting rather than announcing a breakthrough.
Pakistan and Tehran channels
Qatar has played a key role in channeling proposals between the US and Iran in recent weeks, while Pakistan has remained part of the wider mediation track. Andreas Krieg said, "Pakistan offers political access, particularly through Field Marshal Asim Munir, while Qatar does much of the detailed negotiating".
Seyed Mojtaba Jalazadeh said, "The timing of [Munir’s] visit, following Lavrov’s presence in Tehran, suggests that Iran prefers to keep multiple diplomatic channels open, rather than relying exclusively on a single mediator".
For Pakistan, the immediate test is whether Munir and Naqvi leave Tehran with any concrete proposal that can keep the diplomatic track alive. The first face-to-face stop is Abbas Araghchi, and the value of the trip will be measured by whether Tehran sends back terms that can still move through Washington and Israel.
