Why Is Pakistan Mediating Between Iran and the US?

Within hours on Tuesday, Israel’s prime minister said that “finishing the job” means ending the Islamic Republic, and Iran’s security chief told a visiting Pakistani general that no enriched uranium will leave the country. Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, was in Tehran, where Arab News said he is mediating between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking at Tel Hai University on 20 October, Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to Iran International: “Finishing the job means bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran.” The same report says he had discussed overthrowing the government in Tehran with Donald Trump several times, most recently two days earlier.

In Tehran the same day, Munir met President Masoud Pezeshkian, Nournews reported. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf each told him that Washington has to move first.

Netanyahu said the goal is the fall of Iran’s government. Rezaei and Ghalibaf answered Munir with two refusals: no uranium leaves Iran, and nothing new until the US meets seven conditions. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports a Qatar and Pakistan proposal that would trade interest on frozen funds for an inspection visit.

The Times of Israel reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Netanyahu at the Ovda airbase, where US jets are stationed. CBS News said the Pentagon declined to comment. CBS also reported that Netanyahu shared a video of a call with Trump in which he said “Donald, we have a job to finish” and that they would “finish it together”. Trump replied: “You’re the man I want by my side, Bibi.”

Arab News reported from Tehran that Rezaei told Munir, according to state television: “Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran.” He called the material “a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people” and added: “There will be no negotiations until America takes steps to build trust.” Press TV reported, citing unnamed reports, that Washington’s latest proposal demands the stockpile be moved abroad.

Arab News described Ghalibaf as Iran’s chief negotiator and quoted him telling Munir: “We have nothing new to say; America cannot gain Iran’s trust unless it fulfils the seven conditions.” Arab News listed Iran’s demands as a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad and the lifting of oil sanctions. Iranian spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described the visit more modestly. The talks “are mainly focused on bilateral relations and strengthening interactions and cooperation”, he said, according to CBS.

Pezeshkian wrote on X: “We will eat dirt, but we will not give up our land,” Iran International reported.

On Sunday 18 October, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “If they comply with our conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen on the sixth day,” CBS reported. The same day Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran.” CBS reported that Sergey Lavrov visited Tehran on Monday, as this site covered. On Tuesday Araghchi wrote on X: “Never in our history have Iran and Russia worked as closely as now.”

Press TV says Washington asked for the stockpile to be moved abroad. Rezaei, in the words Arab News carried, refused to let any of it leave.

According to Qatari outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, as relayed by CBS, the Qatar and Pakistan proposal would give Iran interest on $6 billion in frozen Qatari-held funds. In return Iran would allow an undisclosed visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency to nuclear sites, CBS reported. The outlet’s sources said “a potential breakthrough could be announced this week”. Arab News put the purity of Iran’s enriched uranium at 60 percent, below the 90 percent associated with weapons.

This site covered Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu before Israel’s vote in an earlier article.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s sources expect an announcement this week. Iran’s reply on removing uranium will show whether Rezaei’s line holds. A strike after Hegseth’s visit would show how Washington and Jerusalem weigh Munir’s mediation. The US-Iran talks tracker records each step.

Ghalibaf told Munir there is nothing new to say until the seven conditions are met. Netanyahu said the job ends with a different government in Tehran. Munir has both sentences to carry to Washington.