Mark Dubowitz says Trump holds ‘maximum leverage’ over Iran as ceasefire begins
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Basis for Protection of Democracies, analyzes President Trump’s agency Iran coverage following a two-week ceasefire settlement. He highlights the regime’s weakened state after 15 months of Trump’s administration, making Iran’s 10-point peace plan with “ridiculous calls for” unlikely to be accepted. Dubowitz discusses the selection dealing with Iran’s new regime.
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President Donald Trump publicly thanked what he known as Pakistan’s “nice prime minister and discipline marshal, two implausible individuals!!!” in a Reality Social publish Friday praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s navy chief, Asim Munir.
Sharif rapidly responded on X, “On behalf of the individuals of Pakistan, Area Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and on my behalf, I specific my deep and profound appreciation in your sort and gracious phrases.”
The general public alternate capped a outstanding rise for Munir, who has grow to be one of many few international officers trusted each by Trump and by Iran’s safety institution.
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Vice President JD Vance walks with Pakistan’s Chief of Protection Forces Area Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, U.S. Embassy Cost d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker, and Inside Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi after arriving for talks with Iranian officers in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 11, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/Reuters)
Munir not too long ago turned the primary international navy chief to go to Iran because the newest escalation between the United States and Iran, in accordance with Pakistani and Iranian experiences. Arriving in full navy uniform, he was warmly greeted by Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi and held conferences with senior Iranian navy officers.
Retired Pakistani Gen. Ahmed Saeed advised Fox Information Digital that Munir has for months served as an informal back channel between Washington and Tehran, Iran, because the Trump administration tries to barter an finish to the battle, Iran’s nuclear program and the naval blockade within the Persian Gulf.
Few international figures seem to have nearer ties each to Trump and to Iran’s military hierarchy.
That has raised a hanging query: How did the identical man grow to be shut each to Trump and to a few of Iran’s strongest commanders?
Saeed, who mentioned he has recognized Munir personally for years, advised Fox Information Digital that Munir started constructing ties with Iran whereas serving as Pakistan’s director normal of navy intelligence in 2016 and 2017.
“He has been interacting with the management. He has been interacting with the intelligence neighborhood. He has been interacting with the IRGC,” or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Saeed mentioned.
In line with Saeed, Munir constructed ties not solely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps but additionally with Iran’s common military and intelligence equipment. Saeed mentioned Munir had longstanding contact with former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Pressure 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 different Iranian navy figures.
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Few international figures seem to have nearer ties each to Trump and to Iran’s navy hierarchy. (Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)
“He continues to be a determine internationally who has private interactions, a private equation within the intelligence neighborhood in Iran, within the navy hierarchy in Iran, within the diplomatic corps of Iran and in addition on the aspect of the political management,” Saeed mentioned.
That longstanding relationship seems to clarify why Iran welcomed him so warmly, at the same time as he stays in direct contact with Trump and his group.
Basis for Protection of Democracies’ Invoice Roggio advised Fox Information Digital that, “Trump mustn’t belief the Pakistanis. Pakistan was a perfidious ‘ally’ in Afghanistan, backing the Taliban whereas pretending to be our pals. Munir’s ties to the IRGC needs to be a large pink flag for the Trump admin.”
Munir’s relationship with Trump dates again to the India–Pakistan disaster of Could 2025. Munir performed a key position in serving to de-escalate the confrontation, and afterward Pakistan formally nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a transfer extensively considered by Pakistani analysts as inspired by Munir.
Pakistan’s Asim Munir has grow to be one of many few international officers trusted by each President Donald Trump and Iran’s safety institution, in accordance with Pakistani analysts and officers. (Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Since then, Trump repeatedly has praised him. Trump has known as Munir an “distinctive man,” a “nice fighter” and “my favourite discipline marshal.”
Pakistani officers and media experiences say the 2 males now converse immediately.
Pakistani analyst Raza Rumi advised Fox Information Digital that Munir’s enchantment to Trump is no surprise.
“Trump has lengthy proven a desire for sturdy, decisive leaders,” Rumi mentioned. “Munir matches that mould as a centralized authority determine who can ship outcomes.”
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Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi have been greeted by Pakistan Overseas Minister Ishaq Dar and Military Chief Area Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon their arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, April 11, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Overseas Affairs/AP)
Rumi described Munir as “a disciplined, institution-first chief with a powerful emphasis on order, hierarchy and strategic readability.”
“In contrast to extra publicly charismatic navy figures, his type is comparatively understated, formed by intelligence work and operational expertise quite than overt political signaling,” Rumi mentioned.
Munir’s background helps clarify each his type and his affect.
Munir studied on the Fuji College in Japan, the Command and Employees School in Quetta, the Malaysian Armed Forces School in Kuala Lumpur, and Pakistan’s Nationwide Defence College, the place he earned an grasp of philosophy diploma n public coverage and strategic safety administration, in accordance with Pakistan’s Geo Information. Munir was the primary military chief in Pakistan to obtain the Sword of Honour, the navy’s highest distinction for a cadet. The outlet additionally described him as an avid reader, traveler and sportsman.
Munir can also be a Hafiz-e-Quran, which means he has memorized the complete Quran by coronary heart.
A former head of each Pakistan’s Military Intelligence and Inter-Providers Intelligence businesses, Munir spent years overseeing Pakistan’s most delicate regional relationships, together with with Iran, Afghanistan and India.
TRUMP AGREES TO 2-WEEK CEASEFIRE IF IRAN OPENS STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Vice President JD Vance shakes arms with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Overseas Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on April 12, 2026, after talks on Iran. Pakistan’s Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Chief of Defence Forces Chief of Military Employees Area Marshall Asim Munir, and U.S. Embassy Cost d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker look on as Vance prepares to board Air Pressure Two. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
In 2025, after the India-Pakistan disaster, he was elevated to discipline marshal, the primary Pakistani officer to carry the rank since former navy ruler Ayub Khan.
Pakistani officers say that later that yr, he additionally was given the newly created title of chief of defense forces, additional cementing his authority above the nation’s navy branches.
Munir hardly ever provides interviews, however his speeches provide clues to his worldview.
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A former head of each Pakistan’s Army Intelligence and Inter-Providers Intelligence businesses, Munir spent years overseeing Pakistan’s most delicate regional relationships, together with with Iran, Afghanistan and India. (Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)
On the Margalla Dialogue in Islamabad in November 2024, he warned that “absence of correct rules for freedom of expression is resulting in the deterioration of ethical values in societies worldwide.”
The comment mirrored a broader emphasis on order, self-discipline and centralized authority.
Rumi mentioned Munir operates from “a transactional, state-centric worldview quite than an ideological one.”
But critics argue that his rise has come at a price to Pakistan’s democracy.
After turning into military chief in 2022, Munir centered closely on home politics, together with what critics described as a crackdown on political opposition and an unprecedented focus of navy energy, according to The Guardian, which reported that key negotiations with the US and Iran have been coordinated not from Islamabad, Pakistan’s civilian capital, however from Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the navy.
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A damaged body of Pakistan’s discipline marshal and armed forces chief, Asim Munir, hangs on the wall after an assault on the Cadet School Wana, a military-linked college, within the South Waziristan district close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Nov. 13, 2025. (Aamir Qureshi / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Critics say that displays a broader actuality: Pakistan’s foreign policy is more and more being run by the military quite than the elected authorities.
Rumi mentioned Munir’s rise displays “the navy more and more eclipsing civilian management in Pakistan.”
As the present negotiations proceed, a lot seems to relaxation on Munir. Saeed mentioned that’s as a result of Munir has spent years constructing belief on each side and is unlikely to cease now.
“Figuring out our discipline marshal, and from my very own private data of him, he’s relentless. He wouldn’t quit,” Saeed mentioned.
