CBS News, citing top US officials with knowledge of the matter, has reported that Pakistan quietly allowed Iran to park its military aircraft on the Pakistani airfields in order to shield them from US airstrikes during Operation Epic Fury before positioning itself as a diplomatic conduit between the US and the Islamic Republic.

Although the Shehbaz Sharif Government in Islamabad has actively projected Pakistan as a neutral mediator in regional conflicts, Tehran reportedly sent multiple aircraft to Nur Khan Base of the Pakistani Air Force, a strategically important military installation located just outside the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Following the publication of the report, Washington DC has raised serious doubts regarding Pakistan’s neutrality as a mediator. US officials and lawmakers, including Senator Lindsey Graham, have called for a reassessment of the role of Islamabad as a mediator.

According to a senior US official, Iran stationed several fighter jets, including an Iranian Air Force RC-130 aircraft, and defence equipment at the Nur Khan Airbase shortly after President Donald John Trump declared a ceasefire in early April. Tehran used the RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft, to conduct surveillance. The official is of the opinion that the Islamic Republic stationed its remaining warplanes in Pakistan precisely to save them from US attacks. Interestingly, the official previously admitted that Iran stationed its fighter jets in Pakistan only after the ceasefire was declared!

Meanwhile, US Senator Lindsey Graham has called for a “complete re-evaluation” of Pakistan’s role as a mediator. He also highlighted the statements of Pakistani officials against Israel, stressing: “Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defence officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true.”

CBS News further claimed that Iran parked two aircraft in neighbouring Afghanistan, as well. Later, an Afghan civil aviation officer clarified that an Iranian civilian aircraft, belonging to Mahan Air, landed in Kabul shortly before the US-Iran War began on February 28, 2026. After Iranian airspace was closed, the aircraft remained parked in Kabul Airport, he stated.

As expected, Pakistan has rejected the claim, with a senior official telling CBS News: “Nur Khan Airbase is right in the heart of the city, a large fleet of aircraft parked there can’t be hidden from the public eye.” Although the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the presence of Iranian aircraft in the country, it claimed that aircraft from Iran were in Pakistan to facilitate the movement of diplomatic personnel and security teams. The Ministry issued a statement, mentioning: “The Iranian aircraft currently parked in Pakistan arrived during the ceasefire period and bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement. Assertions suggesting otherwise are speculative, misleading and entirely detached from the factual context.” “Although formal negotiations have not yet resumed, senior-level diplomatic exchanges have continued,” added the statement.

Pakistan has, yet again, claimed that it consistently acted as an impartial facilitator and has been transparent with “all relevant parties“.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das