Can Pakistan’s Asim Munir convince Iran military chiefs to return to talks?

Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir spent Monday moving done the powerfulness corridors of Tehran: the presidency, parliament, the Supreme National Security Council, and the overseas and interior ministries.

He met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, arsenic good arsenic Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is Tehran’s main negotiator successful talks with the United States to extremity their present six-month-long war.

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But amid a deadlock successful those bid negotiations, galore analysts accidental that Munir’s existent trial arsenic mediator volition prevarication successful his quality to usage his presumption arsenic 1 of the region’s astir almighty subject leaders to person his Iranian counterparts successful olive uniforms to hold to a instrumentality to talks with Washington.

Days earlier Munir’s visit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a gathering of doctors successful Tehran that it was clip to extremity the warfare portion Iran held the advantage, a connection aimed arsenic overmuch astatine Tehran’s ain information constitution arsenic astatine Washington.

“It is amended that we bring the warfare to an extremity present arsenic we are successful a presumption of powerfulness and dignity,” helium said, adding that “the full satellite acknowledges our victory”.

Hours later, connected August 21, the main of the general staff of Iran’s equipped forces, Major-General Ali Abdollahi, promised “revolutionary, crushing, regret-inducing and devastating” responses to immoderate American miscalculation.

It was a crisp illustration of the spread betwixt Iran’s president and the men present moving its subject — 1 that Munir volition request to besides navigate, analysts say.

And that’s wherefore Munir’s astir important gathering connected Monday mightiness person been with General Mohsen Rezaei, a typical of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the recently appointed caput of the Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei is fundamentally the span betwixt the subject and Khamenei.

State of the war

Munir’s sojourn to Tehran came connected a time erstwhile the portion and the satellite were bracing for US President Donald Trump’s threatened “economic D-Day” sanctions against Iran, accompanied by a threatened punishment for each countries that proceed to commercialized with Tehran.

Later successful the day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast“, a sweeping sanctions run targeting Iran’s integer assets, gold, aviation, exertion and shipping networks.

But portion informing different countries to sever commercialized ties with Iran, helium held backmost from really announcing immoderate penalties for those nations, acknowledging that specified a measurement would “blow up the planetary fiscal system”.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking the aforesaid day, kept the enactment of renewed strikes open.

“If we request to usage kinetic strikes, we’ll usage them. If Iran is foolish capable to overplay their manus oregon messiness with the American military, we’ll bash what we request to do,” helium said.

It’s unclear whether Munir’s sojourn helped stave disconnected broader US enactment against Iran and its trading partners.

But the timing was significant, analysts constituent out. Munir travelled to Tehran days aft taking a telephone telephone from United States President Donald Trump, who reportedly asked Islamabad to usage its power to bring Iran backmost to the table.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the one-day sojourn had produced “comprehensive discussions” connected reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war.

Iranian officials, the ISPR added, “appreciated Pakistan’s constructive relation and sincere efforts”.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who travelled with Munir, went further, calling the talks “very affirmative and productive” and saying “significant advancement was made”.

A reshuffled Iranian military

This was his 4th sojourn to Tehran this year, but his archetypal since Iran’s subject hierarchy changed earlier this month.

Pakistan’s subject chief, Asim Munir, met General Mohsen Rezaei, typical of the ultimate person and caput of the Supreme National Security Council, successful Tehran connected Monday, August 24, 2026 [Handout/Inter-Services Public Relations]

On August 10, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei installed Abdollahi arsenic main of the wide unit and moved Rezaei into the Supreme National Security Council. Ahmad Vahidi, commandant of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has held his station since March, erstwhile his predecessor was killed successful the war’s opening strikes.

It is these subject men that analysts accidental are present shaping Iran’s warfare moves, perchance giving a chap antheral successful azygous an borderline implicit accepted diplomats successful convincing Tehran to get backmost to talks.

“It is progressively the IRGC and the wider information constitution driving decisions connected warfare and bid during this crisis,” Ahmed Saeed, a erstwhile vice admiral successful Pakistan’s navy and a defence analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Naqvi, the interior minister, has travelled to Tehran 8 times since April without those visits producing a important breakthrough.

But dissimilar him, Munir is not a politician. He’s a wide who appears to bask the spot of some the Iranian enactment and, crucially, Trump — who has described the Pakistani service main arsenic his “favourite tract marshal”.

“The telephone [to Munir a fewer days ago] was initiated by Trump himself, requesting Pakistani enactment usage its power to bring Iran backmost to the table,” Saeed said.

Warm words, nary movement

What Iranian officials really told Munir, successful accounts carried by Iranian authorities media, differed small from what they person been telling their ain broadcasters each week.

“We distrust America, and it indispensable alteration its behaviour,” Rezaei told Munir, according to IRNA.

Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, was blunter.

“We are pursuing the implementation of the presumption of the Memorandum of Understanding, and it is America that indispensable adhere to its commitments based connected the Memorandum of Understanding,” helium told Munir, according to IRNA.

Pezeshkian, meanwhile, pressed Munir to archer Washington to “correct its code and approach”, informing that “relying connected unit and bullying volition lone complicate the process”, according to Tasnim, different Iranian outlet.

Two tracks, 1 strait

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi is besides expected successful Tehran contiguous for a abstracted circular of talks focused specifically connected the Strait of Hormuz, a way that has tally alongside Pakistan’s mediation for months.

Oman’s engagement is not new. Albusaidi has held recurring talks with Tehran connected the strait’s navigation rules.

Ejaz Haider, a Lahore-based defence analyst, said the Omani and Pakistani diplomatic tracks complement each other.

“Oman and Islamabad channels complement, due to the fact that clause 5 of the Islamabad MoU stresses a bilateral knowing connected the strait [between Oman and Iran],” helium told Al Jazeera. The Strait of Hormuz passes done the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

“This [a woody betwixt Iran and Oman to jointly negociate the strait] is not successful the involvement of the US, which is wherefore Trump has threatened to weaponry Oman,” Haider said, referring to remarks Trump made connected August 17, erstwhile helium told Fox News helium would weaponry Oman if it “gets successful the way” of reopening the strait, the 2nd clip helium had threatened the US state implicit Hormuz.

Where Islamabad’s vantage arsenic a mediator laic was successful its “direct entree to Vahidi, Abdollahi and Rezaei, the existent architects of Iran’s decision-making”, Saeed, the erstwhile naval official, said.

An Iranian authoritative adjacent to the negotiations, speaking connected information of anonymity, said Albusaidi would beryllium successful Tehran “primarily to perceive what Iran has decided and what it has discussed with its Pakistani mediator”.

Who holds the leverage?

Andreas Krieg, an subordinate prof of defence studies astatine King’s College London, said the differences that had emerged betwixt the Iranian subject and civilian leaderships show a gulf betwixt their knowing of wherever the warfare stood.

Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf, Krieg said, were “essentially informing that Iran cannot unrecorded indefinitely successful this condition”, portion “parts of the IRGC judge the other and deliberation clip is moving against Washington”.

But ultimately, helium said, “Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Vahidi and the IRGC are cardinal to whether immoderate governmental knowing [to extremity the war] tin beryllium implemented”, referring to Iran’s apical subject leadership.

“[Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi tin negociate something, and Qatar tin broker it, but nary of that matters if the information apparatus does not judge the operational consequences.”

For now, Munir appears to beryllium the campaigner mediators judge has the champion changeable astatine getting Iranian generals from their warfare country to the committee room.