US President Donald Trump's close ties with Pakistan military chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir amid the military conflict with Iran and the ongoing complications over the Strait of Hormuz have raised eyebrows among both Munir's former colleagues and analysts in the US.
The reason is Munir's well-documented close ties with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been cited by experts as a "massive red flag" for the Trump administration.
Backchannel role under scrutiny
Speaking to Fox News Digital, retired Pakistani General Ahmed Saeed said that Munir had been involved for several months in informal backchannel talks with the US and Iran amid the Trump administration's effort to strike a deal with Tehran aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and permanently halting Iran's uranium enrichment program.
"He has been interacting with the leadership. He has been interacting with the intelligence community. He has been interacting with the IRGC," said Saeed.
Deep Iran links highlighted
Elaborating further, he said that the Field Marshal has deep ties not only with the IRGC but also with Iran's Regular Army and their intelligence officials.
Saeed also said that Muneer was in close contact with former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020 and commander Hossein Salami, who was killed in an Israeli strike in June 2025.
"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," said Saeed.
Scepticism in US
Expressing reservations about Trump's ties with Munir, Foundation for Defence of Democracies' Bill Roggio said that Trump should not trust Pakistan, especially in view of Munir's close ties with the IRGC.
"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," he said.
Munir, in recent days, became the first foreign military chief to travel to Iran following the latest spike in tensions between Washington and Tehran, according to accounts in both Pakistani and Iranian media. Dressed in full uniform on arrival, he was received by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi before holding talks with senior figures in Iran's military establishment.
Origins of Trump equation
His equation with Donald Trump can be traced back to the India-Pakistan crisis in May 2025. In the weeks that followed, Pakistan moved to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a step that analysts in Islamabad widely believed carried Munir's backing.
Trump, for his part, has returned the compliment more than once, referring to Munir as an "exceptional man," a "great fighter," and at one point, "my favourite field marshal."
Officials in Pakistan, along with local media reports, say the two are now in direct contact, speaking to each other without intermediaries.