Pakistan says Iranian jets landed

Pakistan’s government says Iranian aircraft that landed at Nur Khan airbase near Rawalpindi were tied to diplomacy, not military protection. A May 12 statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry rejected a CBS News report as “misleading and sensationalized” and said the planes arrived after a ceasefire, during what it called the opening phase of “Islamabad Talks” between Iran and the United States. (mofa.gov.pk) CBS News, citing unnamed U.S. officials, reported on May 12 that Iran had sent multiple aircraft to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan days after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran in early April. (cbsnews.com) The report said one of the aircraft was an Iranian Air Force RC-130 reconnaissance plane and said U.S. officials viewed the move as a way to shield Iranian assets from possible American strikes. (mofa.gov.pk) Pakistan’s own public record shows it has been openly handling Iran-related diplomatic traffic for weeks. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry release on April 24 said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad and was received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. (mofa.gov.pk) A second release on May 4 said Pakistan facilitated the transfer of 22 Iranian crew members from the seized container ship MV Touska as a “confidence-building measure” by the United States. ### What exactly did Pakistan deny? Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on May 12 that the Iranian aircraft “bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement.” The ministry said several aircraft from both Iran and the United States had landed in Pakistan after the ceasefire to move diplomatic officials, security personnel and administrative teams connected to the talks process. (cbsnews.com) The same statement did not deny that Iranian aircraft were present in Pakistan. Instead, it disputed the purpose assigned to those flights and said “formal negotiations have not yet resumed,” though “senior-level diplomatic exchanges have continued.” (mofa.gov.pk) ### Why is Nur Khan airbase the focus? Nur Khan is not a remote strip. CBS described it as a strategically important military installation outside Rawalpindi, and a senior Pakistani official told the broadcaster that a large fleet parked there could not be hidden because the base sits in the middle of an urban area. Rawalpindi also appears in Pakistan’s own April 24 release on Araghchi’s arrival. (mofa.gov.pk) That makes the base relevant not only because it is military infrastructure, but because it is also being used for high-level arrivals tied to the Iran-U.S. channel Pakistan says it is facilitating. ### What evidence is public, and what still rests on anonymous sourcing? CBS News attributed its central claim to unnamed U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The report said multiple Iranian aircraft reached Nur Khan after the ceasefire and specifically named an RC-130 among them. Pakistan’s evidence, by contrast, is an on-the-record Foreign Ministry statement. (cbsnews.com) That statement confirms Iranian aircraft were “currently parked in Pakistan” but says they were there for diplomatic logistics linked to talks and possible future meetings. Pakistan has not, in the material it has published, listed tail numbers, flight counts or the specific aircraft types involved. (mofa.gov.pk) ### How does this fit Pakistan’s mediator role? April 24 is the clearest marker of Pakistan’s role. On that date, Pakistan announced Araghchi’s arrival for meetings on “regional peace and stability,” and on May 4 it said it coordinated with both Iran and the United States in transferring the 22 MV Touska crew members. (cbsnews.com) Those releases show Islamabad was already serving as a channel between the two sides before the Nur Khan dispute became public. The argument now is over whether aircraft movements were part of that diplomacy, as Pakistan says, or evidence that Pakistan crossed from facilitator to protector of Iranian military assets, as the U.S. officials cited by CBS alleged. (mofa.gov.pk) ### What can readers verify next? May 12 is the key date for Pakistan’s formal rebuttal, and April 24 and May 4 are the two earlier government releases that document Iranian and U.S.-Iran contacts through Islamabad. Any next step in the story is likely to appear first in Pakistan Foreign Ministry statements, U.S. official comments, or further reporting that identifies the aircraft and dates in greater detail. (mofa.gov.pk 1) (mofa.gov.pk 2)