Tensions in West Asia have escalated drastically with Israel striking Iran with missiles, Iran retaliating in kind, and the United States bombing three nuclear sites in Iran over the weekend. During the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, Pakistan’s chief of army staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, made a visit to Washington DC. This was a surprise for many, including in Pakistan.
Munir was there at the invitation of the United States government, ostensibly to mark the 250-year anniversary of the US military. Even weeks ago, Pakistan-US relations were seemingly still at rock bottom. Pakistan was an important ally in the United States’ “War on Terror” centred in Afghanistan. But since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, Washington DC has shown little interest in Pakistan. During Donald Trump’s first term as president from 2017 to 2021, he called the country a safe haven for terrorists and accused its government of “lies and deceit”. Even Joe Biden, when he became the US president after Trump’s first term, referred to Pakistan as one of the world’s most dangerous nations.
In sharp contrast, on 18 June, Munir was in a closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House, after which Trump remarked that Pakistanis “know Iran very well, better than most, and they are not happy about anything.” The meeting, and Trump’s comments, hint that a shift is underway in which Pakistan might emerge as a new, if unlikely, player in West Asia’s most volatile standoff.
Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre border with Iran. Pakistan will be important to the United States in case of further action against Iran. The United States could seek access to Pakistan’s military bases and to its air space. The United States is Israel’s most powerful ally, backing it with economic and military aid even amid Israel’s ongoing, 20-month long assault on Gaza. The question that arises from the Trump–Munir meeting is whether Pakistan is offering to mediate between Iran and the Unites States – with the latter as a proxy for Israel – to avoid a war at its doorstep, and whether it will support Washington DC’s agenda of a regime change in Tehran.