Pakistan's military chief concludes three-day visit to Iran

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 18, 2026 (AFP) :Pakistan's powerful army chief completed a three-day visit to Tehran, the country's military said on Saturday, having met top Iranian leaders and negotiators as part of efforts to end the Middle East war.

Field Marshal Asim Munir met Iran's president, foreign minister, parliament speaker and the head of Iran's military central command centre, the statement said.

The visit showed Pakistan's "unwavering resolve to facilitate a negotiated settlement... and to promote peace, stability, and prosperity", the military said ahead of expected US-Iran talks in Islamabad in the coming days.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation to Islamabad for peace talks with the United States last week, the highest level face-to-face contact between the two countries in decades.

Those talks ended without an agreement, but diplomacy continued thereafter, with Pakistan's prime minister undertaking a three-country tour to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to push the peace process.

A second round of talks is expected in Islamabad this coming week.

In Tehran, "the Field Marshal underscored the need for dialogue, de-escalation, and peaceful resolution of outstanding issues through sustained diplomatic engagements", the Pakistani statement said.

Tehran threatened on Saturday to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more if the United States continued its blockade of Iranian ports, hours after Iran announced it had reopened the strategic waterway in the wake of a ceasefire in Lebanon.