Iranian Air Force Aircraft Arrive at Pakistani Base Near Iran Border

U.S. officials said. The aircraft included an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan is a strategically important installation outside Rawalpindi. U.S. officials said the aircraft were sent to the base, which sits in a country that shares a roughly 565-mile border with Iran.

Com, instead referencing President Donald Trump's past remarks on Pakistan. U.S. Central Command. Pakistani officials simultaneously attempted to position themselves as diplomatic intermediaries capable of helping prevent a broader regional war.

Pakistan has long tried to maintain a difficult balancing act between its security relationship with the United States and its ties with neighboring Iran. The developments could complicate ongoing negotiations that have so far been unsuccessful. The activity unfolded as tensions remained high around the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil flows through the strait averaged 20 million barrels per day in 2024. U.S. Energy Information Administration.

CENTCOM said Iranian forces fired on commercial ships at least nine times. CENTCOM said Iranian forces seized two container vessels. CENTCOM said Iranian forces carried out additional hostile actions.

The revelations place new attention on Islamabad’s role during the crisis. U.S. officials have increasingly viewed Pakistan as an important regional partner because of its strategic location bordering Iran, Afghanistan, India and China, with access to the Arabian Sea.

Islamabad’s role during the recent tensions has been particularly sensitive for both military planners and diplomats. U.S. military was responding to escalating tensions with Tehran.

This potentially complicates Washington’s security relationship with a key regional partner that was simultaneously trying to broker diplomacy behind the scenes. The revelations also underscore the increasingly fragile geopolitical balancing act facing Pakistan as it attempts to maintain ties with the United States, Iran, Gulf Arab states and China while trying to avoid being pulled deeper into a widening regional conflict.

com reported that American warships, coalition naval forces and commercial carriers have remained on heightened alert following weeks of military escalation involving Iran.

U.S. military’s effort to keep traffic moving along the waterway has already become a major operational test as American warships, Iranian forces and commercial shipping traffic operate in proximity.