President Donald Trump publicly thanked what he called Pakistan’s “great prime minister and field marshal, two fantastic people!!!” in a Truth Social post Friday praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir.
Sharif quickly responded on X, “On behalf of the people of Pakistan, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and on my behalf, I express my deep and profound appreciation for your kind and gracious words.”
The public exchange capped a remarkable rise for Munir, who has become one of the few foreign officials trusted both by Trump and by Iran’s security establishment.
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Munir recently became the first foreign military leader to visit Iran since the latest escalation between the United States and Iran, according to Pakistani and Iranian reports. Arriving in full military uniform, he was warmly greeted by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and held meetings with senior Iranian military officials.
Retired Pakistani Gen. Ahmed Saeed told Fox News Digital that Munir has for months served as an informal back channel between Washington and Tehran, Iran, as the Trump administration tries to negotiate an end to the conflict, Iran’s nuclear program and the naval blockade in the Persian Gulf.
Few foreign figures appear to have closer ties both to Trump and to Iran’s military hierarchy.
That has raised a striking question: How did the same man become close both to Trump and to some of Iran’s most powerful commanders?
Saeed, who said he has known Munir personally for years, told Fox News Digital that Munir began building ties with Iran while serving as Pakistan’s director general of military intelligence in 2016 and 2017.
“He has been interacting with the leadership. He has been interacting with the intelligence community. He has been interacting with the IRGC,” or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Saeed said.
According to Saeed, Munir built ties not only with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps but also with Iran’s regular army and intelligence apparatus. Saeed said Munir had longstanding contact with former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020, commander Hossein Salami, who was killed in an Israeli strike in June 2025, and other Iranian military figures.
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“He continues to be a figure internationally who has personal interactions, a personal equation in the intelligence community in Iran, in the military hierarchy in Iran, in the diplomatic corps of Iran and also on the side of the political leadership,” Saeed said.
That longstanding relationship appears to explain why Iran welcomed him so warmly, even as he remains in direct contact with Trump and his team.
Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Bill Roggio told Fox News Digital that, “Trump should not trust the Pakistanis. Pakistan was a perfidious ‘ally’ in Afghanistan, backing the Taliban while pretending to be our friends. Munir’s ties to the IRGC should be a massive red flag for the Trump admin.”
Munir’s relationship with Trump dates back to the India–Pakistan crisis of May 2025. Munir played a key role in helping de-escalate the confrontation, and afterward Pakistan formally nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a move widely viewed by Pakistani analysts as encouraged by Munir.
Since then, Trump repeatedly has praised him. Trump has called Munir an “exceptional man,” a “great fighter” and “my favorite field marshal.”
Pakistani officials and media reports say the two men now speak directly.
Pakistani analyst Raza Rumi told Fox News Digital that Munir’s appeal to Trump is not surprising.
“Trump has long shown a preference for strong, decisive leaders,” Rumi said. “Munir fits that mold as a centralized authority figure who can deliver outcomes.”
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Rumi described Munir as “a disciplined, institution-first leader with a strong emphasis on order, hierarchy and strategic clarity.”
“Unlike more publicly charismatic military figures, his style is relatively understated, shaped by intelligence work and operational experience rather than overt political signaling,” Rumi said.
Munir’s background helps explain both his style and his influence.
Munir studied at the Fuji School in Japan, the Command and Staff College in Quetta, the Malaysian Armed Forces College in Kuala Lumpur, and Pakistan’s National Defence University, where he earned an master of philosophy degree n public policy and strategic security management, according to Pakistan’s Geo News. Munir was the first army chief in Pakistan to receive the Sword of Honour, the military’s highest distinction for a cadet. The outlet also described him as an avid reader, traveler and sportsman.
Munir is also a Hafiz-e-Quran, meaning he has memorized the entire Quran by heart.
A former head of both Pakistan’s Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence agencies, Munir spent years overseeing Pakistan’s most sensitive regional relationships, including with Iran, Afghanistan and India.
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In 2025, after the India-Pakistan crisis, he was elevated to field marshal, the first Pakistani officer to hold the rank since former military ruler Ayub Khan.
Pakistani officials say that later that year, he also was given the newly created title of chief of defense forces, further cementing his authority above the country’s military branches.
Munir rarely gives interviews, but his speeches offer clues to his worldview.
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At the Margalla Dialogue in Islamabad in November 2024, he warned that “absence of proper regulations for freedom of expression is leading to the deterioration of moral values in societies worldwide.”
The remark reflected a broader emphasis on order, discipline and centralized authority.
Rumi said Munir operates from “a transactional, state-centric worldview rather than an ideological one.”
Yet critics argue that his rise has come at a cost to Pakistan’s democracy.
After becoming army chief in 2022, Munir focused heavily on domestic politics, including what critics described as a crackdown on political opposition and an unprecedented concentration of military power, according to The Guardian, which reported that key negotiations with the United States and Iran have been coordinated not from Islamabad, Pakistan’s civilian capital, but from Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the military.
Critics say that reflects a broader reality: Pakistan’s foreign policy is increasingly being run by the army rather than the elected government.
Rumi said Munir’s rise reflects “the military increasingly eclipsing civilian leadership in Pakistan.”
As the current negotiations continue, much appears to rest on Munir. Saeed said that is because Munir has spent years building trust on both sides and is unlikely to stop now.
“Knowing our field marshal, and from my own personal knowledge of him, he is relentless. He would not give up,” Saeed said.
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