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

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir spent Monday moving through the power corridors of Tehran: the presidency, parliament, the Supreme National Security Council, and the foreign and interior ministries.

Key points

• On August 10, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei installed Abdollahi as chief of the general staff and moved Rezaei into the Supreme National Security Council.
• He met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
• Afterwards in the day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled "Operation Economic Outcast", a sweeping sanctions campaign targeting Iran's digital assets, gold, aviation, technology and shipping networks.
• Munir travelled to Tehran days after taking a phone call from United States President Donald Trump.
• Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) remarked the one-day visit had produced "comprehensive discussions" on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war.

He met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. This person is Tehran's chief negotiator in discussions with the United States to end their now six-month-long war.

But against the backdrop of a deadlock in those peace negotiations, numerous analysts say that Munir's true test as mediator will lie in his ability to employ his position as one of the region's most powerful military leaders to convince his Iranian counterparts in olive uniforms to agree to a return to negotiations with Washington.

Days before Munir's visit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian informed a gathering of doctors in Tehran that it was time to end the war while Iran held the advantage, a message aimed as much at Tehran's own security establishment as at Washington.

"It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity, " he remarked, adding that "the whole world acknowledges our victory".

Hours afterwards, on August 21, the chief of the general staff of Iran's armed forces, Major-General Ali Abdollahi, promised "revolutionary, crushing, regret-inducing and devastating" responses to any American miscalculation.

It was a sharp illustration of the gap between Iran's president and the men now running its military – one that Munir will need to additionally navigate, analysts say.

And that's why Munir's most significant session on Monday might have been with General Mohsen Rezaei, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei is essentially the bridge between the military and Khamenei. State of the war.

Munir's visit to Tehran came on a day when the region and the world were bracing for US President Donald Trump's threatened "economic D-Day" sanctions against Iran, accompanied by a threatened punishment for all countries that continue to trade with Tehran.

But while warning other countries to sever trade ties with Iran, he held back from actually announcing any penalties for those nations, acknowledging that such a step would "blow up the global financial system".

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking the same day, kept the option of renewed strikes open.

"If we need to employ kinetic strikes, we'll apply them. If Iran is foolish enough to overplay their hand or mess with the American military, we'll do what we need to do, " he remarked.

It's unclear whether Munir's visit supported stave off broader US action against Iran and its trading partners.

But the timing was significant, analysts point out. Munir travelled to Tehran days after taking a phone call from United States President Donald Trump. This person reportedly asked Islamabad to employ its influence to bring Iran back to the table.

Iranian authorities, the ISPR went on, "appreciated Pakistan's constructive role and sincere efforts".

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. This person travelled with Munir, went further, calling the discussions "very positive and productive" and saying "significant progress was made". A reshuffled Iranian military.

This was his fourth visit to Tehran this year, but his first since Iran's military hierarchy changed earlier this month.

On August 10, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei installed Abdollahi as chief of the general staff and moved Rezaei into the Supreme National Security Council. When his predecessor was killed in the war's opening strikes, ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has held his post since March.

It is these military men that analysts say are now shaping Iran's war moves, potentially giving a fellow man in uniform an edge over traditional diplomats in convincing Tehran to obtain back to negotiations.

"It is increasingly the IRGC and the wider security establishment driving decisions on war and peace during this crisis, " Ahmed Saeed, a former vice admiral in Pakistan's navy and a defence analyst, informed Al Jazeera.

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

But unlike him, Munir is not a politician. He's a general who appears to enjoy the trust of both the Iranian leadership and, crucially, Trump – who has described the Pakistani army chief as his "favourite field marshal".

"The call was initiated by Trump himself, requesting Pakistani leadership use its influence to bring Iran back to the table, " Saeed remarked. Warm words, no movement.

What Iranian authorities actually informed Munir, in accounts carried by Iranian state media, differed little from what they have been telling their own broadcasters all week.

"We distrust America, and it must change its behaviour, " Rezaei informed Munir, according to IRNA. Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker, was blunter.

"We are pursuing the implementation of the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, and it is America that must adhere to its commitments based on the Memorandum of Understanding, " he informed Munir, according to IRNA.

Pezeshkian, meanwhile, pressed Munir to tell Washington to "correct its tone and approach", warning that "relying on force and bullying will only complicate the process", according to Tasnim, another Iranian outlet. Two tracks, one strait.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi is additionally anticipated in Tehran today for a separate round of discussions focused specifically on the Strait of Hormuz, a track that has run alongside Pakistan's mediation for months.

Oman's involvement is not new. Albusaidi has held recurring discussions with Tehran on the strait's navigation rules.

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

"Oman and Islamabad channels complement, because clause 5 of the Islamabad MoU stresses a bilateral understanding on the strait, " he informed Al Jazeera. The Strait of Hormuz passes through the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

When he informed Fox News he would bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" of reopening the strait, the second time he had threatened the US ally over Hormuz, "This [a deal between Iran and Oman to jointly manage the strait] is not in the interest of the US, which is why Trump has threatened to bomb Oman, " Haider remarked, referring to remarks Trump produced on August 17.

Where Islamabad's advantage as a mediator lay was in its "direct access to Vahidi, Abdollahi and Rezaei, the actual architects of Iran's decision-making", Saeed, the former naval official, remarked.

Notably, an Iranian official close to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked Albusaidi would be in Tehran "primarily to hear what Iran has decided and what it has discussed with its Pakistani mediator". Who holds the leverage?

Andreas Krieg, an associate professor of defence studies at King's College London, remarked the differences that had emerged between the Iranian military and civilian leaderships demonstrate a gulf between their understanding of where the war stood.

While "parts of the IRGC believe the opposite and think time is working against Washington", pezeshkian and Ghalibaf, Krieg remarked, were "essentially warning that Iran cannot live indefinitely in this condition".

But ultimately, he remarked, "Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Vahidi and the IRGC are central to whether any political understanding can be implemented", referring to Iran's top military leadership.

" Araghchi can negotiate something, and Qatar can broker it, but none of that matters if the security apparatus does not accept the operational consequences."

For now, can Pakistan's Asim Munir convince Iran military chiefs to return to talks? Remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.