USA US senator does not trust Pakistan to mediate in Iran war
The influential US Senator Lindsey Graham has expressed outrage at a media report that Pakistan, as a mediator in the Iran war, is to allow Tehran to park aircraft at its bases. "I don't trust Pakistan," said the Republican in a Senate committee. He confronted US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff Dan Caine with the question of whether the report was accurate. Neither of them wanted to comment on the matter.
12.05.2026, 20:33
SDA
"If in fact Iranian planes are stationed at Pakistani bases to protect Iranian military installations, that tells me we should be looking for someone else to act as an intermediary," Graham said. He suspected this was the reason why negotiations between Washington and Tehran have been stalling for weeks.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, refuses to replace Pakistan as mediator. "No, they're great," he said shortly before his departure to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese head of state Xi Jinping.
The US broadcaster CBS News had previously reported, citing unnamed US government officials, that Iran had sent planes to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tehran had flown several military aircraft to a military base near Islamabad shortly after Trump's announcement of the ceasefire in April.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry rejected the CBS report in a statement as "misleading and sensational". Some Iranian and US planes had arrived in Pakistan after the ceasefire was announced to provide logistical support for the peace talks between the two countries in Islamabad. Some aircraft and personnel then remained in the country pending further talks.
