Pakistan has strongly rejected a report circulated by CBS News claiming that Iranian military aircraft were secretly parked at Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan during recent Iran-US tensions.
The report alleged that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian aircraft, including a reconnaissance variant of the C-130, to remain at the strategically important airbase near Islamabad. But security analysts and officials familiar with the situation say the claim does not stand up to basic scrutiny.
PAF Base Nur Khan is not an isolated or hidden military facility. It is an open airbase located in the middle of Rawalpindi, surrounded by public roads, commercial areas, and multi-story residential buildings. Aircraft parked there are visible from surrounding locations and regularly photographed by civilians.
At the same time, the airbase was under extraordinary security monitoring due to the presence of US Vice President JD Vance and visiting American delegations. Multiple US military aircraft remained stationed there during negotiations linked to regional diplomacy.
Observers argue that under such intense surveillance, radar coverage, satellite monitoring, and direct US security presence, it would have been impossible for Iranian military aircraft to arrive and remain undetected.
They point out that when aircraft carrying JD Vance and members of the Iranian delegation were parked at the same facility, images immediately spread across social media within minutes-precisely because the base is openly visible.
Analysts say an aircraft is not a needle that can simply disappear, especially in one of the world’s most heavily monitored regions during a major geopolitical crisis.
Critics further argue that if such activity had truly occurred, US intelligence agencies would have reacted instantly, making it unlikely that President Donald Trump would continue publicly expressing confidence in future diplomatic engagement.
Officials and commentators in Pakistan also say the story is part of a wider propaganda narrative being amplified by sections of Indian television media in an attempt to build suspicion against Pakistan and undermine its diplomatic role in regional peace efforts.
According to analysts, the narrative appears designed to damage Pakistan’s credibility at a time when Islamabad has positioned itself as an important communication channel between Tehran and Washington.
They maintain that Pakistan’s role in facilitating dialogue and reducing tensions is being deliberately targeted through unverified claims repeated across international and regional media platforms.
And as the debate intensifies, one message from Islamabad remains clear — fake news does not become truth simply because it is repeated by a major international outlet or attributed to anonymous sources.
