Islamabad:
An online video accessed by NDTV indicates that Pakistan has been consistently providing refuge to Iranian military aircraft when Tehran is in conflict, not only during the course of the present war in the Middle East.
The YouTube video, accessed by NDTV and dated July 2025, shows Iranian transports and aerial refuelling tankers parked on the tarmac of Karachi Airport, weeks after Israel concluded Operation Rising Lion, which targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Screenshots of this video come a day after a CBS News report highlighted that Pakistan was presently harbouring Iranian aircraft, a fact that raises serious questions on Islamabad’s impartiality as mediator during peace talks between Tehran and Washington, which were held in Islamabad.
An NDTV report backs the CBS report and features a high-resolution satellite image of an Iranian Air Force RC-130H Khofash aircraft parked at Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase on April 25.
The RC-130H is a dedicated electronic warfare variant of the venerable C-130 ‘Hercules’ operated by Iran for decades.
Imagery analysed by Damien Symon, a researcher at the Intel Lab, indicates that the aircraft arrived at Nur Khan Air Base between 11 and 12 April 2026 and has remained on the ground till at least 12 May 2026, nearly a month after its arrival, and has remained parked in the same position throughout this period.
Vantor satellite image accessed by NDTV shows an Iranian Air Force RC-130H Khofash Electronic Warfare aircraft parked at Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase.
Addressing a Senate House Appropriations Committee hearing, US Senator Graham told US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine that he doesn’t trust Pakistan.
“If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistani bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing [talks between the US and Iran] is going nowhere.”
Significantly, the earlier July 2025 video uploaded on YouTube shows that Iran had parked its only remaining KC-747 (a derivative of the Boeing 747) aerial tanker, the only one of its type, at Karachi airport at a time of high tensions with Israel last year.
It is believed that this aircraft has been destroyed in an Israeli airstrike during the ongoing war in West Asia, possibly at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran.
The July 2025 video also shows an Iranian Air Force KC-707 aerial refuelling tanker, a derivative of the civilian Boeing 707.
YouTube video shows Iranian Boeing 707-based aerial tanker and civilian aircraft parked in Karachi last year during high tensions with Israel. Photo Credit: Credit: Nadeem Nagar on YouTube
These ageing US-built jets have been among the Iran Air Force’s most important force multipliers for decades, especially given that sanctions prevented modern replacements. At least two aircraft of this type have been destroyed in Israeli and US airstrikes earlier this year.
In a statement, the government of Pakistan, while not denying the presence of the aircraft, has stated that it ‘categorically rejects the CBS News report regarding the presence of Iranian aircraft at Nur Khan Air Base as misleading and sensationalised’.
“Such speculative narratives appear aimed at undermining ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace.”
