INTERNACIONAL
Trump’s favorite field marshal: Who is Pakistan’s powerful army chief Asim Munir with deep intel ties
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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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In this photo released by the Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir, center, Pakistan Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf, left, and Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar attend a guard of honor ceremony at the joint military command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
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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Few foreign figures appear to have closer ties both to Trump and to Iran’s military hierarchy. (Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«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.
Pakistan’s Asim Munir has become one of the few foreign officials trusted by both President Donald Trump and Iran’s security establishment, according to Pakistani analysts and officials. (Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
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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Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were greeted by Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon their arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, April 11, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AP)
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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Vice President JD Vance shakes hands with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on April 12, 2026, after talks on Iran. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Chief of Defence Forces Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, and U.S. Embassy Charge d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker look on as Vance prepares to board Air Force Two. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
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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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. (Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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.
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A broken frame of Pakistan’s field marshal and army chief, Asim Munir, hangs on the wall after an attack at the Cadet College Wana, a military-linked school, in the South Waziristan district near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Nov. 13, 2025. (Aamir Qureshi / AFP via Getty Images)
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.
donald trump, pakistan, iran, military
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The Trump administration on Friday released its fourth tranche of declassified unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) records, including newly released military infrared videos and additional details about a 2015 unidentified object reported near the nation’s primary nuclear weapons assembly facility.
Officials said the latest release is part of the administration’s effort to expand public access to UAP records while protecting information that could reveal sensitive military capabilities, eyewitness identities or national security operations.
Among the newly released files is an 18-second infrared video submitted by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in 2025 showing an object officials described as resembling a six-pointed star.
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An infrared image released by the Department of War shows an object described by officials as resembling a six-pointed star during a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command mission over the Yellow Sea on Jan. 1, 2025. (Department of War)
The footage, captured by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform over the Yellow Sea, shows the sensor tracking what the government described as an «area of contrast» while cautioning that the video’s description should not be interpreted as an official conclusion about the object’s identity or significance.
The latest release also includes a newly declassified Department of Energy report detailing a 2015 incident involving an unidentified object over the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, the nation’s primary facility for assembling, maintaining and dismantling nuclear weapons. Portions of the report had previously been released in a more heavily redacted form, but Friday’s tranche includes additional details and imagery.
The release also includes a 1-minute, 46-second infrared video submitted by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in 2024 that shows a military sensor tracking an elongated area of contrast. As the sensor zooms in, the object appears as a line of several points moving across the field of view before becoming less distinct as it recedes into the distance. Officials cautioned that the video’s description should not be interpreted as an official conclusion about the object’s identity or significance.
Another newly released Navy «Range Fouler Debrief» — a standardized report used to document unauthorized intrusions into military training airspace — describes a military operator observing a «quite small» object with a metallic appearance and reflective underside that continued traveling in a constant direction. The report cautions that the descriptions reflect the observer’s impressions at the time and are not definitive assessments of the object’s characteristics.
A screenshot of video footage from an alleged unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) sighting in the northeastern United States in July 2025, which was detailed in files released by the DOW and originally obtained by the FBI. (DOW/FBI)
PENTAGON FILES REVEAL AGENTS’ REPORTS OF ‘ORBS LAUNCHING ORBS’ NEAR SENSITIVE US SECURITY SITE
The release also features additional infrared videos submitted by U.S. Central Command, the Air Force and Indo-Pacific Command. One 2024 video shows what appears to be an elongated area of contrast that later resembles a line of multiple bright points as the military sensor tracks it. Another 2023 video captures two areas of contrast crossing the sensor’s field of view in opposite directions.
In at least one case, AARO included technical context alongside the footage, noting that apparent flickering in a 2019 Air Force infrared video could result from the sensor’s automatic contrast adjustments when tracking an object whose temperature closely matched its background.
An artist’s rendering released by the U.S. Department of War depicting a 2023 sighting of «orbs launching other orbs» near a national security site in the western United States. (Department of War)
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Congress established AARO in 2022 to investigate reports of unidentified objects across air, sea, space and other domains, with a focus on determining whether incidents could pose flight safety or national security risks. The office is tasked with assessing whether sightings can be attributed to foreign adversaries, classified U.S. programs or conventional explanations before labeling them unresolved.
The latest release is the fourth tranche in a series that is part of President Donald Trump’s directive to expand public access to UAP records, adding that redactions were limited to protecting eyewitness identities, sensitive military locations and unrelated government facilities.
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Un asalto en altamar dejó a 27 pescadores ecuatorianos a la deriva: fueron hallados con vida tras horas de incertidumbre
Durante varias horas, 27 pescadores artesanales navegaron a la deriva frente a la costa ecuatoriana sin motores, sin equipos de comunicación y sin posibilidad de pedir ayuda. Lo que comenzó como una jornada habitual de pesca frente a Manabí terminó convirtiéndose en un operativo de búsqueda que movilizó a las autoridades marítimas y mantuvo en vilo a decenas de familias. El desenlace llegó cuando todos fueron encontrados con vida en la comuna La Entrada, en la provincia de Santa Elena, después de sobrevivir, según sus primeros testimonios, a un violento asalto en alta mar.
Los pescadores habían salido desde comunidades pesqueras del cantón Manta, principalmente de los sectores de Santa Rosa y Las Piñas, en la parroquia San Lorenzo, para cumplir una faena de pesca artesanal. Con el paso de las horas dejaron de comunicarse y no regresaron al puerto en el tiempo previsto, por lo que sus familiares alertaron a la Capitanía del Puerto sobre su desaparición.
La denuncia dio paso a un operativo de búsqueda en aguas del litoral ecuatoriano. Durante las primeras inspecciones fueron localizadas varias embarcaciones flotando sin sus motores fuera de borda, un hallazgo que llevó a las autoridades y a los propios pescadores de la zona a sospechar que la flotilla había sido víctima de un ataque de piratas del mar, una modalidad delictiva que ha ganado presencia en la costa del país.
Mientras avanzaba la búsqueda, la incertidumbre crecía entre las familias. La noticia cambió cuando comenzó a circular un video enviado desde Santa Elena en el que aparecían varios de los pescadores confirmando que estaban con vida. Poco después, las autoridades verificaron la información y confirmaron que los 27 hombres habían logrado llegar a la comuna La Entrada, ubicada en el límite entre Santa Elena y Manabí.
De acuerdo con las versiones preliminares entregadas por los sobrevivientes, la flotilla fue interceptada por hombres armados mientras realizaba labores de pesca. Los atacantes les habrían robado los motores fuera de borda, los equipos de comunicación, combustible y otras pertenencias de valor antes de abandonar las embarcaciones en mar abierto.
Sin los motores, los pescadores quedaron completamente expuestos a las corrientes marinas. Incapaces de maniobrar o de solicitar auxilio por radio, permanecieron durante horas desplazándose sin control hasta conseguir acercarse a la costa de Santa Elena, donde finalmente recibieron ayuda y pudieron contactar a sus familiares.
En las horas posteriores al hallazgo circularon versiones no confirmadas sobre la existencia de otros pescadores desaparecidos e incluso sobre un posible fallecimiento. Sin embargo, hasta el 10 de julio las autoridades únicamente habían confirmado que los 27 trabajadores del mar cuya desaparición había sido denunciada fueron encontrados con vida. Las investigaciones continúan para esclarecer los hechos y verificar la información que comenzó a difundirse durante la emergencia.
El caso volvió a poner de relieve la vulnerabilidad de la pesca artesanal frente al incremento de los ataques de delincuentes que operan en aguas ecuatorianas. En los últimos años, pescadores de Manabí, Santa Elena, Esmeraldas y otras provincias costeras han denunciado un aumento de los robos en altamar, principalmente dirigidos al hurto de motores fuera de borda, cuyo elevado valor en el mercado ilegal los convierte en uno de los principales objetivos de estas organizaciones.
Para los pescadores, la pérdida del motor no solo representa un golpe económico que puede impedirles volver a trabajar durante semanas o meses. También constituye un riesgo inmediato para la vida, ya que una embarcación inmovilizada queda a merced del viento, las corrientes y las condiciones del océano, especialmente cuando la tripulación pierde además los equipos de navegación y comunicación.
Las autoridades marítimas y los organismos de seguridad mantienen abiertas las investigaciones para identificar a los responsables del asalto denunciado por los sobrevivientes y establecer cómo operó el grupo que interceptó a la flotilla. Los testimonios de los pescadores serán incorporados a las diligencias para reconstruir la secuencia del ataque y determinar si este caso guarda relación con otros episodios similares registrados en la costa ecuatoriana durante los últimos meses.
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