US Senators raise questions over Pakistan’s involvement in Iran talks

Washington, June 24 (IANS) Two US Senators, both from the Republican Party, have raised questions over the involvement of Qatar and Pakistan as intermediaries in the ceasefire negotiations with Iran, accusing both nations of supporting terrorism.

Senator Rick Scot accused Qatar and Pakistan of harbouring terrorists and mentioned that recent developments made clear that “who our friends really are”.

“It should be clear to everybody by now who our friends really are. Qatar and Pakistan have long histories of harboring terrorists, and right now they seem far more invested in propping up Iran’s decades-long terror campaign than achieving a meaningful peace. There is still room for a workable agreement that benefits everyone. HOWEVER, what everybody needs to get through their heads here is that there is ZERO chance Iran comes out of this able to build a nuclear weapon,” the Florida Senator posted on X.

Senator Tim Sheehy raised questions over Pakistan’s involvement as an intermediary, recalling that it hid Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. He accused Qatar of laundering money for terrorist groups.

In his remarks on Fox News ‘Fox and Friends’, Sheehy, who represents Montana, called for having Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel at the negotiation table, stressing that the US should unequivocally stand with the UAE and Israel.

Asked whether he had a problem with Pakistan and Qatar serving as intermediaries, Sheehy responded: “I do. I think Qatar and Pakistan… they have a role to play for sure, but if they’re going to be at the table, we better have the UAE and Saudi and Israel at the table, too, because Qatar’s been laundering money for terrorist organisations for decades. The Pakistanis, through ISI, funded insurgencies against us and hid bin Laden. So, to assume they’re going to be objective middlemen here, I don’t think is accurate. And I think we need to make sure we stand with the UAE, we stand with Israel unequivocally because they will be our vanguard in the region, no matter what happens.”

The statement of two US Senators comes as Qatar and Pakistan mediated in US-Iran talks held in Switzerland.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that the recent negotiations in Switzerland focused on advancing implementation mechanisms under the agreement, and it was agreed that discussions at expert and technical levels would continue to advance the effective implementation of the war-termination agreement. He said that the Iranian delegation was heading back home after conducting discussions on the implementation of the provisions of the memorandum of understanding to end the war.

–IANS

akl/vd