Amid the fragile truce between the United States and Iran, Senator Lindsey Graham’s remarks regarding his distrust of Pakistan have caused a storm on social media.
Speaking during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Graham asked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine regarding reports that Iranian aircraft were operating from Pakistani territory.
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Graham, who is also considered a close ally of US President Donald Trump, further asked whether such actions, if true, were consistent with Islamabad “being a fair mediator.”
US questioning Pakistan’s role?
After not receiving a clear answer from General Caine, Graham suggested that if the reports of Iranian aircraft at Pakistan bases were true, it would mean Islamabad’s action as a peace mediator would be “inconsistent.”
Graham goes on to question Secretary Hegseth over the same reports, but the former FOX News anchor stated he “would not want to get in the middle of the ongoing negotiations.”
However, Hegseth’s answer seemed to have struck a nerve with Graham, who later admitted 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,” he said.
“No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere,” Graham added further, expressing his frustration over the ongoing conflict and back and forth over the ceasefire proposals.
Graham’s remarks come after a CBS report claimed that Pakistan had allowed the Iranian military to use its bases, including the Nur Khan Air Force base. The report cited US officials, who alleged, that this decision may have been made to shield Iranian assets from American strikes.
Additionally, the Republican senator took to X a day before the hearing and questioned whether Washington should consider another mediator for the truce talks with Iran.
Citing the same report, Graham 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,” he added.
Pakistan has dismissed the report as “misleading and sensationalised.” In a statement from the Foreign Office, Islamabad maintained that the aircraft arrived during the ceasefire after initial talks between the US and Iran.
US-Iran peace talks: Latest update
As the peace talks between the US and Iran remain stalled, Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s latest proposal to the US, dismissing it as a “piece of garbage.”
Adding that the ceasefire was on “life support,” Trump stated that the proposal was “completely unacceptable and weak.”
Meanwhile, Iran has stated that it stands ready to respond to any new US aggressions and has urged Washington to “abandon its one-sided approach” to the ceasefire and, ending the war.
