TEHRAN – Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and regional developments during a meeting with Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in Tehran, Iran’s media reported on Tuesday.
Pakistan is a key mediator between the US and Iran. Its earlier mediation efforts with both parties resulted in an interim peace agreement signed in June. But the Islamabad Memorandum quickly faltered, amid new fighting between Iran and the US weeks after.
Field Marshal Asim Munir’s visit comes with diplomatic efforts between Iran and the United States stalled over issues including the future of the Strait of Hormuz. The trip is his fifth since the June agreement. Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday, accompanied by a delegation of Pakistani officials, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei earlier said the visit was primarily focused on strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad.
Responding to speculations that COAS Asim Munir’s visit could involve delivering a political message or military threat, Baqaei said some exchanges between the two countries involved negotiations, but most focused on bilateral ties.
He emphasised the importance of relations between the neighbouring countries and efforts to expand cooperation.
The visit comes amid continued tensions between Iran and the US, with diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving their differences remaining stalled. Pakistan has played a mediating role in efforts to reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran following their military confrontation.
Reportedly, Iran told Pakistan’s Army Chief on Tuesday that there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, underscoring its hardening stance despite mediation efforts by key interlocutor Pakistan.
President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and regional developments with Field Marshal Asim Munir in Tehran, according to Nournews.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei on Tuesday told visiting Pakistani army chief Asim Munir that Tehran will not allow nuclear material to leave the country, according to state TV.
“Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran. Such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country,” says Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“There will be no negotiations until America takes steps to build trust — a process that must begin with the fulfillment of Iran’s conditions.”
Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made similar remarks to Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, who is in Tehran as part of a renewed push to mediate a peace deal between the Islamic republic and the United States.
“We have nothing new to say; America cannot gain Iran’s trust unless it fulfils the seven conditions,” said Ghalibaf, noting that “threats and military maneuvers cannot influence Iran’s strategic decisions.”
Iran has demanded, among other things, a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of its assets abroad and the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector.
The Middle East war was sparked in late February by the United States and Israel when they launched a wave of surprise attacks on Iran, while Washington and Tehran were in the midst of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
The warring parties agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that was expected to create a framework for a permanent resolution to the conflict, but the deal did not last long.
Negotiations have effectively been at an impasse since then, and recent indirect talks between the US and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough.
Tehran had previously maintained it would not hand over its nuclear materials — enriched to 60 percent, close to the atomic bomb threshold of 90 percent — to any country but had hinted at the possibility of diluting them within Iran’s borders.
Washington and its allies have imposed waves of sanctions on Iran, accusing it of seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has long denied.
