In this file photo, a Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder fighter jet takes off from the Mushaf base in Sargodha, northern Pakistan, June 7, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan’s air force escorted Iranian negotiators home after inconclusive peace talks with the United States last weekend, launching a major operation after the Iranians said Israel might seek to kill them, three sources told Reuters.
Pakistan deployed around 20 aircraft in the escort, along with the force’s airborne warning and control system for aerial surveillance to ensure the security of the delegation returning from Islamabad, two Pakistani sources close to the operation said.
One of them said that similar security protection would be provided for subsequent negotiations if the Iranians requested it, “otherwise Pakistani planes would welcome them in Pakistani airspace.”
A third source involved in the negotiations said measures were already in the works ahead of a new round of negotiations expected as early as this weekend.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran, however, said Pakistan insisted on the escort after Iranian delegates raised the “hypothetical” possibility of a threat.
Discussions with the Iranian delegation over a potential threat during a trip and the presence of a Pakistani air escort in Iran have not been previously reported.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s permanent mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pakistani air force and army did not respond to questions about the operation. The US Embassy in Islamabad did not respond to a request for comment.
“When the negotiations failed, the Iranians were wary that things were not going well. They suspected they might be targeted,” a security source said.
“This was a massive operational mission if you look at it from a pilot’s point of view. You take responsibility for a delegation that comes for negotiations, you provide them with air cover, you have powerful fighters that counter any threat,” he said.
The source involved in the talks, the highest-level engagement between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, confirmed the air escort but did not provide details of the operation.
“We dropped them off as far as Tehran. Their safety was our responsibility even beyond their stay here,” the source explained.
Sunday’s mission to Iran included a Chinese-made J-10 aircraft, the best jet in the PAF fleet, an official said.
The Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former military officer and certified pilot, requested a security escort, which goes well beyond normal protocol, the two security sources said.
The regional diplomat said the Iranians had not made a formal request but had also not “ruled out the possibility that Israel could even strike the plane”, prompting Pakistan to insist on providing a security escort. The delegation did not land in Tehran, the diplomat said, refusing to specify where it was dropped off.
Israel had Araghchi and Qalibaf on its strike list until Pakistan asked Washington to intervene to remove them because there would be no one left to negotiate the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month: “I will not issue a life insurance policy for any of the leaders…”, referring to Iran.
