Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday evening for talks with Iranian officials, as diplomatic efforts ramp up to prevent a new round of fighting with the United States and Israel. Munir’s visit is his fifth to Iran since the April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, which was brokered by Islamabad. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is accompanying Munir, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
The Pakistani army chief is expected to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi first, IRNA said. The visit comes a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Tehran, and two weeks after Pakistan and its allies agreed to accelerate the deployment of forces to Saudi Arabia, which has come under repeated attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi armed group in Yemen. Lavrov’s visit on Monday was his first to Tehran since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February.
The Russian foreign minister met Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, and the talks covered the war, the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end the fighting. But the Munir visit also comes at a time when some experts have warned of growing signs that United States President Donald Trump might be preparing for a return to fighting with Iran. Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to end the war on September 26.
Since then, the US has deployed an additional aircraft carrier to the Middle East, which is expected to arrive by late November. Trump has endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s upcoming October 27 election, referring to their shared mission in attacking Iran. Trump said that if Netanyahu were not re-elected, the US would need to attack Iran on its own.
Analysts say these developments add urgency to diplomatic efforts to sidestep a potential military escalation. In recent weeks, Qatar has played a key role in channeling proposals between the US and Iran. Andreas Krieg, an associate professor in security studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that while Qatar increasingly provides the diplomatic machinery behind the talks, Doha still values Islamabad’s access to Washington and Tehran.
Pakistan has mediated between Washington and Tehran since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28. Islamabad brokered a ceasefire on April 8 and, days later, hosted the highest-level direct engagement between the US and Iran since 1979. In June, the two sides agreed to a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU).
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