Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Aug. 24. Naqvi posted afterward that the talks were “very positive and productive,” focused on “the Iran-US conflict, tensions in the Middle East and the way forward, as well as the steps needed by both sides for restoration of the Islamabad MoU thereby leading to comprehensive settlement of the conflict.”
The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed June 17 and brokered by Pakistan, committed both governments to reach a final agreement within 60 days. That window expired Aug. 17 with no deal.
Al Arabiya reported that Munir carried American messages to Tehran, following a call President Trump placed to the Pakistani leadership last week. Iran’s Tasnim news agency says the opposite: “Contrary to reports by some media outlets that Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir carried a message containing US threats during his visit to Iran, the trip was aimed at creating space for negotiations and conveying Iran’s conditions and position to the American side.”
Tasnim’s source said that Tehran’s position was that Washington return to compliance with the path to peace laid out in the MoU. That is to include the rules for navigation worked out by Oman and Iran, as called for in the MoU. If accurate, it is notable that Iran is not calling for any extra conditions imposed due to Washington’s overt abrogation over the last two months of the signed agreement.
