Iran’s President Pezekshian has arrived in Islamabad on his first state visit since the US and Israel attacked on Feb 28. Reports say he needs to convert the agreement into political capital given the resistance it faces at home over concessions he has reportedly made on the nuclear programme.
An overseas visit is expected to help Pezekshian look good at home and bolster his public standing.
Pakistan Chosen for First Post-War Visit
“Pakistan is the first country chosen by President Pezeshkian to come and personally express his gratitude and appreciation for the Pakistani political, military, and people of Pakistan for their commitment, for their help, for their efforts to pursue the mediation mission,” Al Jazeera reported.
Of course not everybody thinks that way. US Vice-President JD Vance’s “We love Pakistan” remark has drawn fire from two US senators.
Republican senator Rick Scott said, “It should be clear to everybody by now who our friends really are. Qatar and Pakistan have long histories of harbouring terrorists, and right now they seem far more invested in propping up Iran’s decades-long terror campaign than achieving a meaningful peace.”
Senator Tim Sheehy, also Republican, said “The Pakistanis through the ISI funded insurgencies against us and hid bin Laden. So to assume they’re going to be objective middlemen here, I don’t think is accurate.”
Sheehy believes that America’s real allies are Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel, that were never at the negotiating table.
“I think we need to make sure that we stand with the UAE, and we stand with Israel unequivocally, because they will be our vanguard in the region no matter what happens,” he said.
Earlier, Senator Lindsay Graham had also questioned Pakistan’s reliability as a mediator and demanded that it recognise Israel through the Abraham Accords.
“Their animosity towards Israel is long-standing. It is undeniable that Iranian military aircraft are being housed on Pakistani air bases, and past rhetoric from the highest Pakistani officials against Israel is disturbing,” Graham said.
“I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them. 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,” Graham said.
