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 try to kill them, three sources told Reuters.
Pakistan deployed about two dozen aircraft in escort as well as the force’s Airborne Warning and Control System for aerial surveillance to ensure the safety of the delegation returning from Islamabad, two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the operation said.
One said similar security protection would be provided for subsequent talks if the Iranians requested it, “otherwise they would be met by Pakistani aircraft in Pakistani airspace.”
A third source involved in the talks said measures were already being prepared ahead of a new round of talks scheduled for this weekend.
However, a regional diplomat briefed by Tehran said Pakistan insisted on the escort after Iranian delegates raised the “hypothetical” possibility of a threat.
Discussions with the Iranian delegation about a possible threat during the trip and the presence of a Pakistani air escort in Iran had not been reported previously.
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. Pakistan’s 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 talks failed, the Iranians feared that things had not gone well. They suspected they might be a target,” a security source said.
“This was a huge 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 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 about the operation.
“We dropped them all the way to Tehran. Their safety was our responsibility even beyond their stay here,” the source said.
Sunday’s mission to Iran included Chinese-made J-10 aircraft, the best aircraft 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 the security escort, which goes far beyond normal protocol, the two security sources said.
The regional diplomat stated that the Iranians did not make a formal request but also did not “rule out the possibility that Israel could even attack the plane”, leading Pakistan to insist on providing a security escort. The delegation did not land in Tehran, the diplomat said, refusing to say where they were dropped off.
Israel had Araghchi and Qalibaf on its hit list until Pakistan asked Washington to intervene to eliminate them because there would be no one left to negotiate over the war that the United States and Israel launched on February 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month: “I would not issue life insurance policies for any of the leaders…”, referring to Iran.
