Iran International
Pakistani top general Asim Munir’s trip to Tehran has fueled speculation about a possible temporary Iran-US agreement to end the war and resume broader talks, although Tehran says the high-profile visit does not necessarily mean a deal is close.
Munir’s visit on Friday follows days of lower-level negotiations that have reportedly narrowed some of the major disagreements between Tehran and Washington.
The Pakistani commander visited Tehran last month as well, where he held meetings with senior Iranian civilian and military officials.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also traveled twice to Tehran and remained there on Friday as negotiations continued.
Iranian and Pakistani media reports described the visit as part of Islamabad’s broader mediation effort aimed at reducing tensions over Iran’s uranium enrichment program and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios reported on Friday that Munir’s visit could represent a “final push” by Pakistan to secure a temporary agreement under which both sides would halt hostilities and continue negotiations for another 30 days over unresolved disputes, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Media speculation
However, expectations of an imminent breakthrough remain cautious.
An Iranian source close to the negotiations told the Arabic outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Pakistan’s interior minister had not delivered any new American proposal to Tehran and that reports about a finalized draft agreement were “media speculation.”
According to the source, “the visits by Pakistani officials to Tehran are aimed at strengthening Islamabad’s mediation role and preventing further escalation.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman downplayed the significance of the Pakistani top general's trip to Tehran, saying, "Despite becoming more frequent, such exchanges are a continuation of the same diplomatic process. We cannot necessarily say we have reached a point where a deal is near."
“The differences between Iran and the United States are so deep and extensive that it cannot be said we must necessarily reach a result after a few rounds of visits or negotiations within a few weeks," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday.
Iranian outlet Farda News, considered close to parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who is leading Iran’s negotiating team, wrote that “Islamabad is not merely a messenger, but is playing a role beyond transmitting messages and below that of a direct negotiator.”
Pakistan, Iran’s eastern neighbor, has emerged over the past two months as the principal intermediary between Tehran and Washington.
Its mediation efforts accelerated after Islamabad helped broker a ceasefire on April 7. But the first round of direct talks between Iran and the United States failed to produce a lasting agreement, and recent weeks have shown signs of growing diplomatic deadlock.
‘Unprecedented progress’
Oman had previously served as the primary mediator. Talks between Tehran and Washington were underway in Muscat before US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.
At the time, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi publicly said that “significant and unprecedented progress” had been achieved before diplomacy collapsed following the outbreak of war.
Unlike Oman, which largely positioned itself as a neutral intermediary, Pakistan enters the process with closer security ties to Saudi Arabia.
Some analysts argue this complicates Islamabad’s role. Pakistan signed a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia in 2025 committing both countries to support one another in the event of an attack. Iran repeatedly targeted Saudi territory during the war, raising questions among some observers about Pakistan’s neutrality.
London-based Amwaj Media wrote that the Islamabad-Riyadh defense pact demonstrates “the limits of Pakistan’s neutrality” in mediating between Iran and the United States.
Iranian state news agency IRNA described Pakistan’s primary concern as preventing the conflict from spreading beyond Iran into the wider region.
The report said Pakistan fears the war could spill into South Asia and destabilize its western border regions at a time when Islamabad is already managing tensions with India along its eastern frontier.
‘The limits of Pakistan’s neutrality’
At the same time, Pakistani officials appear to see strategic opportunities in successful mediation.
IRNA argued that if Islamabad helps secure a diplomatic settlement, it could strengthen Pakistan’s regional standing and deepen economic ties with a post-sanctions Iran.
“Honest mediation by Islamabad could elevate Pakistan’s position in a future Iran free from sanctions and transform it into an important partner,” IRNA wrote.
Pakistan’s mediation effort has also drawn support from China, one of Tehran’s closest strategic partners. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has confirmed that Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts are backed by Beijing.
Although Beijing has avoided taking on a direct mediation role, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said China supports Pakistan playing a “greater role” in resolving the conflict.
Before the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, Khasab was better known to many Iranians as a stop on informal maritime routes used by fishermen, tourists and fast boats moving between Oman and Iran’s southern coast.
Among those boats were vessels known locally as shooti boats, a term borrowed from Iranian smuggling slang. In Iran, shooti usually refers to high-speed cars that carry untaxed or smuggled goods across long distances, often traveling in groups and avoiding stops.
Around Khasab, traders and locals use the same word for fast boats that make quick crossings to places such as Qeshm and other Iranian coastal points.
For years, the route was associated mostly with informal trade and small-scale smuggling. Iranian cigarettes, alcohol and hashish were moved from Iran to Oman, while consumer goods, home appliances and luxury items were brought back from Oman to Iran.
Iranian fishing boats around Khasab were also a familiar part of the area’s maritime landscape.
A port at the mouth of Hormuz
Khasab is the capital of Oman’s Musandam governorate, an exclave separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates.
Its geography gives it unusual importance: the port sits near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, about 35 kilometers from Iran, surrounded by dry mountains and fjord-like inlets that before the war were mostly associated with leisure boats and maritime tours.
The blockade has changed the function of the route.
With main passages in the Strait of Hormuz closed to Iranian ships and vessels linked to the Islamic Republic, Khasab has shifted from a local secondary route into one of several alternatives for moving goods into Iran.
Cargoes that previously traveled through standard commercial channels and UAE ports are now, in parts of the transport network, being redirected through Oman and Khasab.
How the route works
A trader told Iran International that since the ceasefire, Iran-bound cargo is first carried from UAE ports to Khasab on vessels flying non-Iranian flags.
The goods are then unloaded at Khasab’s pier onto Iranian vessels, which take them to Iranian ports outside the main controlled routes.
A significant share of the movement is carried by landing craft, the trader said.
Those vessels are useful for the route because they can move through shallow waters and dock at smaller piers. Some can carry hundreds of tons of cargo, and in some cases close to 1,000 tons, including containers, vehicles and heavier freight.
The goods moving through Khasab are not limited to one category, according to trade sources.
They can include cars, spare parts, home appliances, consumer goods, hygiene products and some items linked to petroleum products.
A costly workaround
The route is significantly more expensive than Iran’s previous channels.
One trader told Iran International that moving goods through Khasab costs about six times more than the earlier route from the UAE to the southwestern port city of Khorramshahr.
Still, the trader said the higher cost has become one of the few remaining options for many businesses trying to continue operating.
Local officials in Iran have also referred to the growing use of Omani ports.
Khorshid Gazderazi, head of the Bushehr Chamber of Commerce, said on Thursday that the UAE had previously served as Iran’s main hub for exports and imports, but that after the war began and loading and container departures were disrupted, using Omani ports was placed on the agenda.
He named Khasab, Suwaiq, Shinas and Muscat among the ports being used to move goods.
Morad Zerehi, governor of Bandar Khamir in Hormozgan province, also announced a plan called “boat transport” for the “legal transfer of basic goods from Omani ports” to the county.
A route advertised online
The shift is also visible on Iranian social media, where accounts selling goods have begun advertising the Oman route.
Some accounts have posted videos of goods being moved from Oman, presenting the route as proof that imports into Iran are continuing despite the war and maritime restrictions.
They market Khasab as a new way to bring goods into Iran and encourage customers to keep buying.
But the route also shows the limits of Iran’s workaround.
For traders, Khasab offers a way to keep goods moving. For Iran’s trade network, it is also a sign of how the blockade has pushed ordinary commerce into longer, more expensive and less predictable routes.
