CDF Asim Munir arrives in Iran as part of ongoing mediation efforts: ISPR
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday evening as part of ongoing mediation efforts aimed at bringing the Iran-US war to a conclusion. On arrival, the army chief was “received and warmly welcomed” by Iran’s Minister for Interior Eskandar Momeni, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The military’s media wing added that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was also present at the reception. The CDF will discuss US-Iran talks, regional peace and other important issues during the visit, the sources said. He will also meet senior Iranian officials. Earlier in the day, security sources said the army chief had departed for Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented about CDF Munir’s visit to Tehran, saying that the US was in “constant communication with him [and] the highest levels of our government are constantly talking to him”. He also praised Pakistan for doing an “admirable job” trying to mediate a peace deal between Washington and Tehran. “The primary interlocutor on this has been Pakistan and continues to be and they’ve done a, you know, I think an admirable job. And that’s what we continue to work through,” Fox News quoted Rubio as saying. “Obviously, other countries … may have their own situation going on. We talk to all of them. But I would just say that the primary country we’ve been working with on all of this is Pakistan, and that remains the case,” he told reporters in Sweden. Meanwhile, earlier today, Tasnim News Agency reported that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to review proposals for resolving disputes, while on an official visit to Tehran. The visit comes amid ongoing Pakistani efforts to mediate between the US and Iran, after plans for a second round of negotiations in Islamabad fell through. The first round of historic direct US-Iran talks was held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, following a Pakistan-b