A viral social media post falsely claims that Pakistan has permitted U.S. military aircraft to use its airspace to conduct operations against Iran. Independent investigations and an official statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirm that this claim is entirely untrue.
The misleading claim began circulating shortly after Israel’s airstrikes on Iran on June 13. A widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter), viewed over 250,000 times and reposted more than 1,400 times, alleges that U.S. Air Force planes entered Pakistani airspace and conducted surveillance missions along the Pakistan-Iran border. The post also includes a fabricated image showing purported flight paths of U.S. military aircraft flying from Pakistan into Iranian territory.
The Claim
On June 17, an X user wrote, “Pakistan is backstabbing Iran,” alleging that U.S. military aircraft were using Pakistani airspace to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence on Iran’s nuclear facilities in coordination with Israel. The post features an image that supposedly maps the flight paths of these planes.
The Facts
The image and the claims made in the post are false.
First, there are clear geographical inaccuracies in the map, such as incorrectly placing Iran’s Chabahar Port within Pakistan’s borders. Experts have also debunked the visual.
Experts confirmed that flight data shown in the image could not be verified using reputable open-source tracking platforms like FlightRadar24 and Plane Spotters. “There is no record of the aircraft registrations mentioned in the image,” Mian said. “These planes appear to be digitally generated or AI-manipulated to mimic real flight paths.”
In addition, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs categorically rejected the claim. In a statement, a spokesperson labeled the viral posts “fake and baseless,” affirming that Pakistan has not allowed U.S. military aircraft to use its airspace for any operations against Iran.
The Verdict
The claim that Pakistan is allowing U.S. military planes to fly into Iran from its territory is false. The accompanying image is fabricated, and there is no credible evidence to support the accusation.
