Pakistan's army chief Munir returns to Tehran for a fifth mediation

Al Jazeera reported that Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on the evening of 20 October with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, his fifth trip to Iran since the 8 April ceasefire brokered by Islamabad. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had come to Tehran a day earlier, on 19 October, for the first time since the war began in February. The National said President Masoud Pezeshkian received Munir the same day and said the US must lift threats and sanctions before any talks.

The framework on the table is the 14-point memorandum signed in June. Al Jazeera says it required the US to lift its naval blockade within 30 days and reopen Hormuz, with about 24 billion dollars of frozen Iranian assets released in stages during a further 60-day negotiating window. The 60 days lapsed in mid-August without extension, and the blockade remains. According to The National, Iran's new proposal would reopen the strait under Iranian control within 7 days. In return it wants the blockade and oil export curbs lifted, assets released and fighting ended on every front.

The calendar is locked to 3 November. Al Jazeera says Trump wrote on 8 October that the US would not strike Iran before the 3 November midterms, and an additional aircraft carrier expected in the region by late November has been dispatched. A Reuters report cited by The National quoted Iranian officials as saying Tehran is deliberately dragging out talks to weaken Trump politically before the election and expects no breakthrough before the vote. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on 20 October that a US strike on the Pickaxe Mountain site near Natanz would meet at least an equal response. Security official Mohsen Rezaei said undersea cables and data centres in the region could become targets if fighting resumes.