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Pakistan has currently found itself in a whirlwind of trouble after reports suggested its assistance to Iran during the recent conflict in West Asia, raising questions over its neutrality as a mediator in the negotiation process between the US and Iran aimed at achieving a complete end to hostilities.
Recent reports by CBS News have put Islamabad's role under scrutiny, claiming that the country quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to use its airfields, possibly shielding them from American airstrikes during the conflict. According to CBS News, citing two US officials, Pakistan had acted in support of Iran during the conflict while simultaneously attempting to maintain favourable ties with the United States. The reports have pointed a lot of fingers at Islamabad over its mediation role, with US Senator and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham, calling for a "complete reevaluation" of Islamabad's role as a mediator. In a post on X, Garham stated that he would "not be shocked" by such a move by Pakistan, citing an earlier statement from officials from Islamabad on Israel, which has strong ties with Washington. "If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties. Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defense officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true," Graham stated in his post. This comes after two US officials told CBS News that days after Trump had announced the ceasefire with Iran in early April, Tehran sent multiple aircraft to Pakistan's Nur Khan Air Base. Among the military hardware was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft. While a senior Pakistani official rejected the claims, an Afghan civil aviation officer told CBS News that an Iranian civilian aircraft belonging to Mahan Air landed in Kabul shortly before the war started. Pakistan's template of playing both sides of the fence now appears to have drawn distrust within the US administration as Trump rejected the Iranian response to his peace overture. The Iranian response was conveyed to DC by the Pakistani side, which had also played host to the round of dialogue between Iran and the US. According to a CNN report, some people close to Trump have raised concerns over Pakistan's role as a mediator between Washington and Tehran. CNN reported that the US administration is questioning whether the Pakistani side has been conveying President Trump's "displeasure" on the state of the peace process and further reported that some officials also believe Pakistan has been sharing a more positive version of the Iranian position with the US than the reality. All of this has led to major distrust in the US administration, which strongly believes that Pakistan is not pushing the proper position of the US administration with Iran, prompting divergent opinions from the Islamic regime. (ANI)
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