Monitoring Desk: A story published on May 11 by CBS News, written by James LaPorta, Jennifer Jacobs, and Sami Yousafzai, titled “Pakistan allowed Iran to park military aircraft on its airfields despite mediator role in conflict with U.S.” is under discussion in Islamabad, where it is being cited as a textbook example of how an untrue but seemingly logical conclusion can be extracted from two premises through propaganda techniques.
The story claimed that Pakistan allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from American airstrikes, while citing the known fact that Iranian negotiation teams reached Islamabad before the arrival of Iran’s top leadership. They used different aircraft, including the RC-130, a variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Since negotiations are still underway, many team members may have remained in Pakistan. The parking of these aircraft at Nur Khan Air Base was used to build the narrative that Pakistan allowed Iran to park its military aircraft in Pakistan to avoid their destruction from U.S. and Israeli bombing.
Finding out which aircraft is parked where is no longer a secret or intelligence information, as several open-source platforms such as Radar24 provide such information, including specific details and data about aircraft movements, flights, manufacturing year and landings.
The story claimed that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, potentially shielding them from American airstrikes, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. Interestingly, there is no need to obtain such openly available information from “U.S. officials.”
Making the story more sensational and presenting it as a work of “investigative journalism,” the writers added that “U.S. officials, who all spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss national security issues, told CBS News that days after President Trump announced the ceasefire with Iran in early April, Tehran sent multiple aircraft to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan, a strategically important military installation located just outside the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi. 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.” Such information is available on open-source information platforms, so obtaining it does not require “U.S. officials, who all spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss national security issues.”
When DND News Agency contacted officials in Islamabad to obtain their response to the CBS story, they stated that the angled report by CBS was misleading despite input from officials familiar with the process and described it as a prime example of making a mountain out of a molehill.
Sharing facts about the parking of Iranian aircraft at Nur Khan Air Base, officials provided the following information:
▪️ The parking of a few Iranian aircraft at Nur Khan Air Base has been blown out of proportion by certain detractors of regional and global peace.
▪️ After the ceasefire and during the first round of Islamabad talks, numerous aircraft, both from the U.S. and Iran, came to Pakistan for the conveyance of staff and security details and remained parked at Nur Khan Air Base.
▪️ A few Iranian aircraft and some staff members stayed back after the first round of talks in anticipation of the second round.
▪️ Although the talks have not resumed directly, the Iranian foreign minister visited Islamabad twice after the first round, and the security and administrative arrangements left behind enabled the logistics of these visits.
▪️ After the first round of talks, American aircraft and security teams were also flown in for subsequent rounds but were relocated to regional U.S. bases after a few days.
▪️ Pakistan, as an impartial and neutral mediator, has been providing logistical and administrative support to both sides to further the cause of peace.
▪️ In this context, Pakistan has been absolutely transparent with both sides and has consistently taken both sides into confidence whenever any ambiguity has arisen. Pakistan shall continue to follow this policy.
▪️ The Iranian aircraft arrived in Pakistan, and a few remain parked there, during the ceasefire and not during active conflict. During the ceasefire, no Iranian aircraft were targeted, even inside Iran, by the U.S. Hence, the parking of these aircraft is in no way linked to any preservation effort, as insinuated by certain sections of the media that appear to be driven more by spoilers than by facts.
▪️ Clearly, certain quarters want to push the region and the world toward a fresh wave of violence and have therefore created a story out of nothing.
▪️ Unfazed, Pakistan remains determined to carry forward its sincere mediatory efforts and shall continue to play a constructive and active role in bringing the conflict to a negotiated settlement in the interest of regional and global peace and security.
