BEHIND THE SCENES, BUT A KEY PLAYER
Since Pakistan announced a few weeks ago that it was mediating between Iran and the US, Sharif has tasked Munir with maintaining behind-the-scenes contacts with American and Iranian political and military leaders in an effort to de-escalate the widening regional crisis, according to Pakistani officials.
There have been no specific details about what the army chief has been doing or whom he has met beyond publicly released images. However, the initial efforts appear to have had some effect, as Pakistan managed to convince US and Iranian delegations to hold rare face-to-face talks in Islamabad last week.
The talks did not produce a formal agreement, but the communication channel has remained open, and Munir is considered to have played a vital supporting role, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Just a few days after the first round of talks ended, Pakistan kept reaching out to the parties and both sides agreed to explore a second round. In order to convince Iran, Munir flew to Tehran on Wednesday.
“Delighted to welcome Field Marshal Munir to Iran,” Araghchi posted on his X account alongside the video showing the Pakistani army chief.
According to Charles Lyons-Jones, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute, Sharif and Dar, the foreign minister, “may well appear to be prominent figures in the US-Iran peace talks, but make no mistake, Asim Munir is the man taking the decisions”.
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