Tehran: For the first time since Pakistan started playing the role of mediator in the Middle East crisis, Iranian state-controlled media has launched a direct, scathing critique of Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir.
Tehran is publicly questioning the neutrality of Pakistan’s mediation, accusing Islamabad of playing a “double game” by tilting heavily towards Washington while maintaining private access to Iranian leadership, as reported by News18.
Munir visited Tehran and was personally tasked with delivering Iran’s formal text to the United States. Tehran, however, maintains it has received zero feedback on the acceptability of that document, Iranian analysts say.
The Iranian media has alleged that Pakistan ignored Iran’s 10-point framework-which was previously acknowledged by the US president – and is instead aggressively pushing 15 to 16 new American demands.
Analysts argue that by prioritising the US viewpoint, Pakistan is not acting as a fair mediator but is instead working to weaken Iran’s regional leverage under the guise of diplomacy.
Iran’s media has also targeted Islamabad’s public relations strategy, which Tehran views as a deceptive attempt to pre-shape the narrative. The country’s analysts have slammed Pakistani public messaging-including the use of Al Jazeera reports to project an image of imminent negotiations – as a deliberate contradiction of Iran’s stated refusal to attend the second round of talks.
Islamabad is accused of creating a fake diplomatic momentum to satisfy international stakeholders like the US and Saudi Arabia, by “prematurely projecting” progress that does not exist on the ground, even as the fundamental process remains stalled.
This friction is a classic manifestation of Pakistan’s long-standing pattern of duplicity in regional diplomacy, top Indian intelligence officials said. By tilting towards Washington, Pakistan is seen as an “unreliable mediator” that has failed to bridge the trust gap, they maintained.
The debate also signals that Tehran is no longer willing to tolerate Islamabad’s attempts to frame the delay as an Iranian failure.
