A CBS report alleging Iran parked military aircraft at a Pakistani airbase has triggered political reactions in Washington and renewed scrutiny of Islamabad’s regional role.
Banners for the US-Iran talks seen at a press centre in Islamabad on April 11, 2026, as uncertainty persists over a possible new round of negotiations. | Xinhua via IANS
Pakistan’s position as a possible mediator between the United States and Iran has come under fresh scrutiny after a CBS News report claimed Tehran quietly moved military aircraft to a Pakistani airbase during the recent conflict, allegedly to shield them from potential American strikes.
The report, citing two unnamed US officials, claimed that Iran sent multiple aircraft, including military assets, to Pakistan’s Nur Khan Air Base near Rawalpindi days after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran in early April. The airbase is considered one of Pakistan’s most strategically important military installations.
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The development has now sparked political reactions in Washington and added another layer of tension to an already volatile regional situation, with questions being raised over Islamabad’s public positioning as a neutral diplomatic intermediary during the crisis.
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According to a CNN report, concerns are now growing within sections of the Trump administration over whether Pakistan accurately communicated Washington’s position to Tehran during backchannel engagements.
The report claimed some US officials believe Islamabad may have conveyed a softer interpretation of Iran’s stance to Washington while failing to adequately communicate Trump’s displeasure over the stalled peace process to the Iranian leadership.
The scrutiny comes as Pakistan continues to publicly project itself as a mediator in the conflict despite maintaining close strategic ties with both China and Iran.
According to the CBS report, one of the aircraft identified was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft. US officials quoted in the report spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The report also claimed Iran moved civilian aircraft into Afghanistan after Iranian airspace was shut during the conflict, though it remained unclear whether military aircraft were among those flights.
While a senior Pakistani official rejected the allegations, the claims have drawn attention because of Islamabad’s parallel diplomatic outreach during the US-Iran crisis.
“Nur Khan base is right in the heart of the city; a large fleet of aircraft parked there can’t be hidden from the public eye,” the Pakistani official told CBS News.
An Afghan civil aviation officer reportedly told CBS News that an Iranian civilian aircraft operated by Mahan Air had landed in Kabul shortly before the conflict began and remained there after Iranian airspace was closed.
According to the report, Taliban authorities later shifted the aircraft from Kabul to Herat Airport near the Iranian border after Pakistan carried out airstrikes around Kabul amid tensions with the Taliban government over alleged support for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan militants.
However, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any Iranian aircraft had been parked in Afghanistan.
“No, that’s not true, and Iran doesn’t need to do that,” Mujahid told CBS News.
The allegations also prompted a sharp reaction from US Senator Lindsey Graham, who questioned whether Pakistan could continue to be viewed as a neutral intermediary.
“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,” Graham said.
“Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defense officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true,” he added.
The controversy comes at a time when diplomatic efforts around Iran remain fragile despite the ceasefire announcement earlier this year.
The CBS report also highlighted Pakistan’s growing military dependence on China. Citing data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, it said China accounted for nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s major arms imports between 2020 and 2024.
The report added that Islamabad appeared to be “navigating both sides of the crisis” by presenting itself to Washington as “a stabilising intermediary” while avoiding any move that could strain ties with Tehran or Beijing.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday suggested Tehran was weighing multiple paths forward as tensions with Washington remained unresolved despite the ceasefire.
“We now have various options; either we enter into negotiations with dignity, authority, and preservation of national interests and realise the rights of the Iranian nation, or we remain in a state of neither war nor peace, or we continue the path of war and confrontation,” Pezeshkian said.
He added that Iran preferred diplomacy backed by “military strength and national interests”.
“The rational, logical, and national interest-based preference is that the victory achieved by the armed forces on the battlefield is also completed in the field of diplomacy and the rights of the Iranian nation are established from a position of dignity and authority,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran on Monday signalled that it was unwilling to discuss its nuclear programme as part of any future negotiations with Washington.
Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported that Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami told lawmakers that uranium enrichment and nuclear technology were “not negotiable” and would not form part of any talks with the US.
The remarks were made during a briefing before Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, according to committee spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei.
“According to the head of the Atomic Energy Organization [of Iran], the issue of nuclear technology is not on the agenda of the negotiations [with the US], and enrichment is not negotiable,” Rezaei was quoted as saying by Press TV.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also said Tehran’s proposal for ending the war was “reasonable”.
According to reports, Iran’s latest proposal included demands for US war reparations, recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and removal of American sanctions.
However, Trump dismissed Iran’s latest proposal in unusually blunt terms while speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday, signalling deep frustration with the state of negotiations.
“After reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn’t even finish reading it. They (Iran) are on life support. The ceasefire is on massive life support,” Trump said.
The US President also reiterated his claim that Iran had suffered major military setbacks during the conflict and warned that Washington could quickly target any renewed military build-up by Tehran.
The developments underscore the fragile state of diplomacy between Washington and Tehran despite the ceasefire, while simultaneously placing Pakistan’s regional role under sharper scrutiny in the US.
With Trump now expected to travel to Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, attention is also shifting towards China’s possible role in shaping the next phase of diplomacy in West Asia as tensions continue to simmer beneath the ceasefire.
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