Pakistan breaks silence on secret Iranian aircraft claims, slams US report as ‘misleading’

Responding to the allegations, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that the claims were baseless and misleading.

“Such speculative narratives appear aimed at undermining ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace,” the ministry said.

It added, “Following the ceasefire and during the initial round of the Islamabad Talks, a number of aircraft from Iran and the United States arrived in Pakistan to facilitate the movement of diplomatic personnel, security teams, and administrative staff associated with the talks process. Some aircraft and support personnel remained temporarily in Pakistan in anticipation of subsequent rounds of engagement.”

Addressing reports about the presence of Iranian aircraft on Pakistani soil, Islamabad clarified that the aircraft had no military purpose.

“The Iranian aircraft currently parked in Pakistan arrived during the ceasefire period and bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement. Assertions suggesting otherwise are speculative, misleading, and entirely detached from the factual context,” the statement said.

The clarification follows reports suggesting that Pakistan had quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park at its airfields during the conflict between Tehran and Washington, allegedly shielding them from possible American airstrikes, even as Islamabad publicly projected itself as a diplomatic intermediary.

According to CBS News, citing two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of national security matters, Iran dispatched multiple aircraft to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan — a strategically significant military installation near Rawalpindi — days after then-US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran in early April.

Among the aircraft reportedly stationed there was said to be an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft.

A senior Pakistani official rejected the report, telling CBS News: “Nur Khan base is right in the heart of the city. A large fleet of aircraft parked there cannot be hidden from the public eye.”

The report also claimed that Iran had sent civilian aircraft to neighboring Afghanistan for safety, though it remained unclear whether any military aircraft were among those flights.

An Afghan civil aviation official reportedly told CBS News that an Iranian civilian aircraft operated by Mahan Air landed in Kabul shortly before hostilities escalated and remained parked there after Iranian airspace was shut down.

However, amid recent tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, when Islamabad conducted strikes inside Afghan territory, Taliban civil aviation authorities reportedly moved the aircraft to Herat Airport near the Iranian border as a precaution against possible bombing of Kabul Airport by Pakistani jets.

The official claimed it was the only Iranian aircraft remaining in Afghanistan.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the allegation, telling CBS News: “No, that’s not true, and Iran doesn’t need to do that.”

CBS News noted that Islamabad has attempted to carefully balance both sides of the crisis, presenting itself to Washington as a stabilising intermediary while avoiding actions that could alienate Tehran or China, Iran’s most influential international ally.