US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Field Marshal Asim Munir’s Tehran meeting could help advance stalled negotiations
3-MIN READ3-MINAgence France-PressePublished: 5:24am, 22 May 2026US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks.
The expected visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, comes a day after US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed strikes.
“I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that’ll advance this further,” Rubio told reporters on Thursday.
A ceasefire on April 8 halted the war launched weeks earlier by the US and Israel, but negotiation efforts have so far failed to yield a lasting peace agreement.
A war of words has taken the place of open conflict but the impasse continues to weigh on the world economy, leaving everyone from investors to farmers in a painful state of uncertainty.
On Thursday, Iran’s ISNA news agency said Munir’s visit was aimed at continuing “talks and consultations” with Iranian authorities, without providing details. Other Iranian media carried the same report.
