Washington — 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, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
Iran also sent civilian aircraft to park in neighboring Afghanistan. It was not clear if military aircraft were among those flights, two of the officials told CBS News.
Together, the movements reflected an apparent effort to insulate some of Iran’s remaining military and aviation assets from the expanding conflict, even as officials publicly served as brokers for de-escalation.
The U.S. officials, who all spoke only under 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.
U.S. Central Command referred CBS News to Afghan and Pakistani officials for comment.
A senior Pakistan official rejected the claims involving Nur Khan Air Base, telling CBS News, that “Nur Khan base is right in the heart of [the] city, a large fleet of aircrafts parked there can’t be hidden from [the] public eye.”
According to an Afghan civil aviation officer who spoke to CBS News, an Iranian civilian aircraft belonging to Mahan Air landed in Kabul shortly before the war started. After Iranian airspace was closed, the aircraft remained parked in Kabul airport.
Later, when Pakistan began airstrikes on Kabul in March during tensions with the Taliban-led government over allegations that the Afghan Taliban was offering a safe haven for the jihadist militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Taliban’s civil aviation authorities decided to move the aircraft to Herat Airport near the Iranian border for safety reasons, to protect it from possible bombing of Kabul Airport by Pakistani jets.
According to the aviation officer, this was the only Iranian aircraft left in Afghanistan.
Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the presence of any Iranian airplanes in Afghanistan, telling CBS News, “No, that’s not true and Iran doesn’t need to do that.”
Pakistan’s reliance on China for military assistance has risen dramatically over the past decade. A Stockholm International Peace Research Institute study showed China supplied about 80% of Pakistan’s major arms between 2020 and 2024, and Islamabad also has close economic ties with Beijing.
Islamabad has attempted to navigate both sides of the crisis — presenting itself to Washington as a stabilizing intermediary while avoiding steps that could alienate Tehran or China, Iran’s most powerful international backer.
China, which has deepened military and economic cooperation with both Pakistan and Iran in recent years, has publicly celebrated Pakistan’s role in facilitating indirect communications between Tehran and Washington.
Iran’s latest proposal to end the war included demands for U.S. war reparations, recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of American sanctions, according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster.
The conditions were disclosed in a social media post by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting a day after Mr. Trump publicly rejected Tehran’s counteroffer as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.” The president did not specify which elements of Iran’s proposal prompted his rejection.
The rejection has further strained what seems to be a ceasefire in name only as Mr. Trump prepares to travel to Beijing this week for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the war in Iran is expected to feature prominently alongside disputes over trade and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, small-scale clashes continued around the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States.
The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that Iranian drones again targeted its territory following several strikes earlier in the week, according to Reuters. Last week, CBS News reported that three American Navy destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz came under attack, with the U.S. carrying out strikes on two Iranian ports abutting the strait.
