Washington DC [US], May 12 : Pakistan's role as a mediator between the United States and Iran has come under scrutiny after CBS reported on Monday, citing US officials, that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, possibly shielding them from American airstrikes.
The two officials told CBS News that while Iran also sent civilian aircraft to be parked in Afghanistan, it was not clear if military aircraft were among those flights.
The US officials speaking on anonymity told CBS News that days after Trump had announced the ceasefire with Iran in early April, Tehran sent multiple aircraft to Pakistan's Nur Khan Air Base. Among the military hardware was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft.
While a senior Pakistani official rejected the claims, an Afghan civil aviation officer told CBS News that an Iranian civilian aircraft belonging to Mahan Air landed in Kabul shortly before the war started.
However, Taliban's chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the presence of any Iranian airplanes in Afghanistan, and told CBS News, "No, that's not true and Iran doesn't need to do that."
Shortly afterwards, US Senator Lindsey Graham questioned Islamabad's role and called for a complete reevaluation of the country's actions as a mediator.
He said, "If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties. Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defense officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true."
}}}}If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties.
Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defense officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if… https://t.co/OqJ1cdVLFX
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 11, 2026
As the situation continues to evolve in the region, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported on Monday that the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami told lawmakers that the issues of nuclear technology and uranium enrichment are not on the agenda of any possible negotiations with the United States, and that Tehran insists that the talks must focus only on ending the war in the region.
He made the remarks while briefing the members of Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee on Monday.
"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," Ebrahim Rezaei, the committee spokesperson, said after the meeting as per Press TV.
Also on Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters that the country's proposal for ending the war was reasonable.
However, on Monday (local time), Trump told the media from the Oval Office that Iran is the weakest it has been and called Tehran's proposal "a piece of garbage".
He said, "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."
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