Lindsey Graham says US should consider new mediators: ‘I don’t trust Pakistan’
The article centers Republican Senator Graham's skepticism of Pakistan as mediator, presenting his mistrust as a driver of substantive policy concerns without critically examining the basis for those concerns. Language choices ('damn thing,' 'piece of garbage,' Pakistan 'categorically rejects' vs. Graham's emphatic personal distrust) privilege the hawkish U.S. official voice.
Primary voices: elected official, state or recognized government, state or recognized government
- This article does not address historical precedent or success rates of U.S.-Iran mediation efforts through Pakistan or other intermediaries.
- This article does not provide Iran's stated position on the ceasefire negotiations or details of their latest proposal beyond Trump's dismissal of it.
- This article does not examine Pakistan's strategic interests in mediating or whether aircraft staging is logistically inconsistent with diplomatic facilitation claims.
Framing may shift if negotiations resume, if military operations restart, or if additional reporting clarifies the aircraft's actual purpose and Pakistan's role.
Establishment framingGovernment-sourcedHawkish framing
The United States should seek a new country to mediate its negotiations with Iran following reporting that Pakistan was allowing Iran to keep aircraft in the country, effectively keeping them safe from U.S. strikes during the war, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Tuesday confirming reporting that Iranian aircraft were present at the Nur Khan air base, but it disputed that Islamabad allowed Iran to keep the aircraft there to try to save them from U.S. forces.
“Pakistan categorically rejects” the “misleading and sensationalized” reporting, the ministry said, adding that the aircraft “arrived in Pakistan to facilitate the movement of diplomatic personnel, security teams, and administrative staff associated with the talks process.”
Graham rebuked the Pakistanis for the alleged transgression during Tuesday’s Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on the Pentagon’s budget request.
“I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them,” he said. “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. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere.”
Both War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to answer Graham’s questions about Iranian aircraft in Pakistan. Before departing for his trip to China, President Donald Trump brushed off concerns about the Pakistanis being mediators.
Pakistan hosted the first and only meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials last month. The two sides have discussed a second round of talks, but Trump ultimately decided not to send the U.S. delegation to Islamabad.
Trump said Monday that he did not like Iran’s most recent response to the latest U.S. proposal.
“After reading that piece of garbage they sent to us — I didn’t even finish reading it. I said, ‘I’m not going to waste my time reading it,’” Trump said at the White House, adding that the ceasefire “is on massive life support.”
The president has threatened to restart offensive military operations if a deal does not come to fruition, but he has repeatedly declined to do so at various points since he announced the ceasefire on April 7.
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