Asim Munir in Tehran on Tuesday: Field Marshal visits Iran as US-Iran talks stall

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and army chief, is due in Tehran on Tuesday 20 October, the latest step in Islamabad's effort to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table. Reuters first reported the Asim Munir Tehran visit on Monday, citing a Pakistani official and Iranian media, and Geo News carried the report on Tuesday morning.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said the agenda covers bilateral cooperation, regional developments and Pakistan's role as a mediator between Tehran and Washington, Arab News reported. Iran's state agency IRNA said he would meet senior Iranian military commanders and diplomatic officials and return to Rawalpindi later this week, Nukta reported. ISPR had not issued a statement on the visit by Tuesday afternoon.

Why this Asim Munir Iran visit matters

The war between the US and Iran began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026. Pakistan brokered an interim deal in June, which collapsed in July, and fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz has continued since. Munir has been to Tehran before this year: an April visit, when Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received him at the airport, and an August visit, when he met President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Where the talks are stuck:

• Iran's offer: Araghchi said on Sunday that Tehran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days "remains on table", depending on Washington's answer to its conditions.
• Iran's conditions: lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports, easing sanctions on its oil exports and ending hostilities on the regional fronts.
• Washington's priority: Iran's nuclear programme.

Pakistan's other track: Doha

The visit comes a day after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the 8th Global Security Forum in Doha that "lasting peace cannot be secured in a single meeting" and that Pakistan had kept trying to bring Washington and Tehran together even when tensions rose sharply. Naqvi also credited Qatar, which organised the Lake Lucerne talks in Switzerland with Pakistan; The Express Tribune reported that he said Qatar's prime minister and Munir worked for more than 16 hours there to keep the negotiations alive. See our story on the Pakistan and Qatar internal security cooperation agreed in Doha on Tuesday.

The Saudi angle

The trip also comes as Iran-backed Houthi forces step up attacks on Saudi Arabia. Arab News reported that a strike on Riyadh airport this month killed 12 people and wounded more than 300. Pakistan signed a bilateral defence agreement with Saudi Arabia in September 2025 and joined the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye in August, so any widening of the war touches Pakistan directly. On Monday Munir met Saudi Arabia's new ambassador: read Saudi envoy meets Asim Munir.

What it means for you

For readers in Pakistan the Strait of Hormuz is not distant: much of the crude and LNG the country imports passes through it, and the war has kept oil prices high. The petrol price you pay moves with those import costs; track it on our petrol price page. A reopening of Hormuz would be the clearest sign of relief at the pump.

We will update this story when ISPR or Iranian officials report on Munir's meetings.