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President Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Pakistan as a mediator in the US-Iran conflict after a top GOP lawmaker questioned Islamabad’s role over a report that Iran is parking military aircraft on Pakistani airfields to shield them from US airstrikes.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, Pakistan has been a key mediator between the US and Iran since the start of the fragile ceasefire that came into effect April 8. CBS News reported Monday, citing unnamed US officials, that Iran flew several military aircraft onto Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan in the days following the April ceasefire. The officials described the move as “potentially shielding them from American airstrikes.” This pissed off Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the most influential foreign policy voices in Trump’s inner circle and one of the most aggressive proponents of the war with Iran. During a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, Graham pressed both officials on whether the Iranian aircraft in Pakistan would be consistent with Pakistan’s role as a fair mediator. Both declined to weigh in, with Hegseth telling the senator, “I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of these negotiations.” Graham then exploded, saying, “I want to get in the middle of these negotiations. I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them. If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere.”

What’s going on now; President Trump publicly broke with Graham hours after the senator’s outburst while speaking to reporters, doubling down on his support for Pakistan as mediator and praising both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir directly. He said, “They’re great. I think the Pakistanis have been great. The field marshal and the prime minister of Pakistan have been absolutely great.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs separately rejected the CBS News report outright, calling it “misleading and sensationalized” and confirming that Iranian aircraft are in fact in Pakistan but framing them as a routine part of the ongoing diplomatic shuttle. They said, “Following the ceasefire and during the initial round of the Islamabad Talks, a number of aircraft from Iran and the United States arrived in Pakistan to facilitate the movement of diplomatic personnel, security teams, and administrative staff associated with the talks process. The Iranian aircraft currently parked in Pakistan arrived during the ceasefire period and bear no linkage whatsoever to any military contingency or preservation arrangement. Assertions suggesting otherwise are speculative, misleading, and entirely detached from the factual context.”

The ministry pointed out that American aircraft have also been allowed to use Pakistani airfields during the same period and defended Pakistan’s position as that of an “impartial, constructive, and responsible facilitator in support of dialogue and de-escalation.”

This all comes as Trump declared on Sunday that Iran’s latest peace proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” and said a day later that the broader ceasefire was on “life support” after rejecting Iran’s 14-point counterproposal.