Islamabad : Pakistan’s air force escorted Iranian negotiators home from inconclusive peace talks with the US last weekend, launching a major operation after the Iranians said Israel might seek to kill them, three sources told Reuters.Pakistan deployed some two dozen jets in the escort, as well as the force’s Airborne Warning and Control System for aerial surveillance to ensure the safety of the delegation back from Islamabad, said two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the operation.One said similar security protection would be provided for subsequent talks if the Iranians ask for it, “otherwise Pakistani aircraft would receive them in Pakistan airspace”.
A third source involved in the talks said measures were already in the works ahead of an expected further round of talks as soon as this weekend.Fear of being targetedA regional diplomat briefed by Tehran, however, said Pakistan insisted on the escort after Iranian delegates raised the “hypothetical” possibility of a threat. The discussions with the Iranian delegation about a potential threat while travelling and the presence of a Pakistani air escort into Iran have not previously been reported.
The Israeli prime minister’s office, Iran’s permanent mission in Geneva, Pakistan’s air force and military, and the US embassy in Islamabad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.“When the talks failed, the Iranians were wary that things had not gone right. It was their suspicion that they might be targeted,” one security source said. “This was a massive operational mission if you look at it from a pilot’s point of view.
You are taking responsibility for a delegation that is coming for talks, you are giving them air cover, you have potent fighters that counter any threat,” the source said.“We dropped them all the way to Tehran. Their security was our responsibility even beyond their time here,” the source said. Sunday’s mission to Iran included Chinese-made J-10 aircraft, the top jet in the Pakistani air force fleet, one official said.Israel’s strike listThe regional diplomat said the Iranians did not make a formal request but also did not “rule out the possibility that Israel could even strike the aircraft”, prompting Pakistan to insist on providing a security escort. The delegation did not land in Tehran, the diplomat said, declining to say where they were dropped off.Israel had Araqchi and Qalibaf on its strike list until Pakistan asked Washington to intervene to have them removed because there would be no one left to negotiate on the war the US and Israel launched.Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said last month, “I wouldn’t issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organisation,” referring to Iran. “I don’t intend to provide an exact report here about what we are planning or what we are going to do.”REUTERS
