WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham went off on China and Pakistan, accusing both countries of propping up Iran and undermining peace talks with the Islamic Republic.
The hawkish senator and staunch backer of the war campaign seized on a CBS News report that Pakistan allowed Iranian jets to park in its airfields and China’s oil purchases from the regime.
“Secretary Hegseth, if the mediator is allowing reconnaissance aircraft from Iran to be parked in Pakistani air bases, do you think that’s consistent with being a fair mediator?” Graham (R-SC) asked Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The Pentagon honcho dodged the question during his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense while defending the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.
Pakistan, which has mediated the talks between the US and Iran for weeks, drawing effusive praise from President Trump, denied that report and claimed the regime’s planes were there for negotiations.
“I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them,” Graham answered. “If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect the Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate.”
“No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere,” he added. “But when it comes to Pakistan and China— enough already.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that the country has remained impartial during the talks.
“The Iranian aircraft currently parked in Pakistan arrived during the ceasefire period and bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement,” it said in a statement. “Assertions suggesting otherwise are speculative, misleading, and entirely detached from the factual context.”
Talks between the US and Iran have dragged out for weeks beyond the initial timeframe given for the cease-fire.
On Sunday, Trump publicly smacked down Iran’s latest “unacceptable” offer and declared a day later that the cease-fire with the regime is on “massive life support.”
Graham, who has Trump’s ear on key policy decisions, also tore into China ahead of the president’s upcoming three-day visit to Beijing.
The senator noted that China is estimated to have purchased about 90% of Iran’s oil exports, in a critical financial boost to the regime.
“President Trump, when you go to China, realize that the person you’re talking to is propping up Russia and Iran,” Graham said.
