All eyes are currently on Pakistan. As Islamabad prepares for the next round of high-stakes talks between the US and Iran, speculation is that an agreement between the countries is close.
Behind the scenes, there is a feverish activity in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where thousands of police and paramilitary personnel have started coming from other provinces.
However, the person who is hogging all the limelight is Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. The Field Marshal landed in Tehran on Wednesday and was received warmly by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Munir became the first regional player to fly to Tehran since the war began on February 28, and interestingly, he carried US President Trump’s blessing when he touched down in Iran. The White House has also made it clear that Trump wants to streamline communication with Pakistanis, whom he called incredible mediators.
As per reports, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has tasked Asim Munir with maintaining behind-the-scenes contacts with American and Iranian political and military leaders. Asim Munir met Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran during his official visit, and according to Iranian media reports and also visited the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, where he was received by its commander, Major General Ali Abdollahi.
The attempts at mediation are a major diplomatic push for Pakistan, which is struggling to keep its economy intact. It has also significantly improved its global perception in 2026, pivoting from a reputation of conflict creator to a "peacemaker" role. So much so that geopolitical analysts say Pakistan achieved one of its biggest diplomatic wins in years. South Asia expert Michael Kugelman thinks Pakistan also defied many sceptics and naysayers who believed it did not have the capacity to pull off such a complex, high-stakes feat.
Diplomats now praise Munir as "the architect of Pakistan's foreign policy" and the most powerful figure in the country.
A lot of this apparently rides on Munir’s close rapport with President Trump. According to the New York Times, before Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran, he made two important phone calls: to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the other to Munir. As per Chinese analyst Lin Minwang, Munir appeared to have been able to “firmly” grasp the personality of the US president. The relationship between the two is not just military; Munir also led a move to strengthen ties with the Trump family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, which helped build personal trust.
Though it is not entirely clear what Munir is doing behind the scenes, his intervention did bear some fruit after Pakistan managed to convince U.S. and Iranian delegations to hold rare face-to-face talks in Islamabad last week. Though the talks did not produce any solid results, it hasn’t died either. The communication channel has remained open, and Munir is actively running backchannel communication.
That said, Pakistan’s role in the talks is not just Munir’s deeds. It also lies on the fact that Pakistan shares warm relations with Iran and has not had any major conflicts with the Islamic Republic. Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Iran, believe Tehran would not trust any other country, and Pakistan is the only candidate.
That said, despite optimism in Washington, the road to an agreement is full of obstacles. Israel has expressed great scepticism about Pakistan's credibility as a mediator, given the fact that it does not recognise the State of Israel.
Some also think Munir’s interventions cast a shadow over the country’s elected government. It shows who the real power in Pakistan is. They believe the Army Chief is entirely deserving of all the credit, as pressure on Iran also came from major global powers, including China. Munir has been the face of mediation, but the real effort came from many sides.
