JK News Today Commentary
On a day when President Donald Trump left for his all-important visit to China, a whole lot of influential voices in the U.S. have cautioned him against trusting Pakistan as a mediator in conflict with Iran. These voices have grown louder after a CBS report mentioned it clearly that Pakistan has allowed Iran to park its military aircraft at its airbases apparently to protect them from the US attacks in the ongoing war that started more than two months ago.
It’s beyond any doubt that the two most powerful men in the world will be discussing and deliberating on the Iran-US war. And , when they talk about, it is but natural that among all other aspects related to the conflict and predictable devastating effect on the world economy , the role of Pakistan as a mediator would also come up .Both the leaders are well disposed off toward Pakistan and Pakistani leadership- China is an all-weather friend of Pakistan as the latter serves its geostrategic interests in South and Central Asia , while Trump has developed a new found love for Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif . The Pakistani duo has deployed flattery as their strategy to win over Donald trump who loves hearing good things about himself and his actions.
Post Indo-Pak war of less than four days in May last year, Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif have flattered the US President no end, crediting him with saving a “ potential nuclear clash” and saving “ millions of lives.” India, on the other hand , has stayed steady in its utterances and actions , at times telling the US that it had no role whatsoever in ending the conflict . The Indian leadership continues to maintain and articulate that “ Operation Sindoor”, military action against the terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir after the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam massacre , is on .
There also has been a clamour in the world’s diplomatic circles that America should look for a different mediator to help reconcile the hostilities between Washington and Tehran . All this suggests that doubts were growing not only at the capability of Pakistan to play the role as and honest broker , but also on its intentions . It is being pointed out time and again that Pakistan always double—crossed the US , and plenty of reasons and background reality checks have been brought to fore.
A report by CBS Monday stated that, “ as Pakistan positioned itself as a diplomatic conduit between Tehran and Washington , it quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from American airstrikes.” The report quoted the U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
The report also noted that, “ together , these movements reflected n apparent effort to insulate some of Iran’s remaining military and aviation assets from the expanding conflict , even as officials served as brokers for de-escalation.” It was a clear reference to Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir , about whom Americans had warned his close ties with IRGC- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps- should serve as a red flag for the U.S.
Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ senior fellow Bill Roggio had told Fox News on April 18, 2026 that “ Trump should not trust the Pakistanis. Pakistan was a perfidious ‘ally in Afghanistan, backing the Taliban while pretending to be our friend’s .Munir’s ties to the IRGC should be a massive red flag for the Trump administration.”
Now read with CBS report’s indictment of Pakistan playing a double-game , Americans have become wary of Islamabad’s intentions as broker for peace in Middle-East.
In the latest turn of events U S Senator Lindsay Graham has stated it quite clearly on Tuesday that he does not trust Pakistan and questioned the country’s role as a mediator in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran after the recent ( CBS) report suggested the Pakistanis are working closely with Iran.
The senator said : “ I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them” He made these remarks during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
He made more scathing remarks after Hegseth and Gen. Caine avoided answering in a straight manner to his questions on their take on the CBS report ,The Senator commented : “ If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets that tells me we should be looking maybe somebody else to mediate.”
His most telling comment was : “ No wonder this damn thing ( US-Iran talks) is going nowhere.”
Veteran American diplomat Zalmay Khalizad, with vast knowledge of Pakistan and its troubling role in South and Central Asia, particularly in India and Afghanistan , commented on X:: “ So reportedly, while facilitating US-Iranian negotiations and cozying up to President Trump, Pakistani military leaders have also allowed Iranian military aircraft to secretly park in a Pakistani airfield to avoid destruction by US attacks. If the report is confirmed , no one should find it surprising.”
He also went on to recall that how Pakistan had been working with and against the US, and termed it as “a pattern of Pakistani policies for the last 40 years. The diplomat cited several examples of this typical game of Pakistan.” Examples include : making commitments to the US not to acquire nuclear weapons , while in fact energetically doing just that, helping USA in Afghanistan after 9/11 while also helping those fighting against us. And let’s not forget , hosting ( Al-Qaeda supermo Osama) Bin Laden until we finally located him right next to one of their military facilities ( Abbottababad), and our special forces went in and eliminate him.”
All this makes it clear that Pakistan is in corner, notwithstanding its denials and flimsy arguments .
