New Delhi: A day after a CBS News reported that Pakistan allowed Iranian military intelligence aircraft to park at its Nur Khan airbase after the ceasefire in the West Asia conflict, Republican Senator and close Trump aide Lindsey Graham suggested that the US consider an alternative mediator in efforts to end the war.
Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday, Graham rained down on US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth during questioning on the reports, declaring that he does not “trust” Pakistan.“I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them. If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere,” he said.
However, while his senator criticised Pakistan, US President Donald Trump said that the “Pakistanis have been great”.Asked by a reporter Tuesday if he was reconsidering Islamabad’s role as negotiator, Trump said: “No, they’re great, the Pakistanis have been great… the Prime Minister and Field Marshal of Pakistan have been absolutely great.” Trump was speaking to reporters before leaving for his trip to China.CBS report had claimed that Pakistan quietly permitted Iranian aircraft to park at its military facilities, potentially shielding them from possible American airstrikes.Graham said that such claims undermine Pakistan’s credibility as a neutral intermediary in ongoing diplomatic efforts involving Tehran.He was among the first to criticise Pakistan. In a post on social media platform X, he called for a reassessment of Pakistan’s diplomatic role in the crisis. “If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete re-evaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties. Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defence officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true,” he wrote.
