Lahore: Pakistan put in place extraordinary multi-layered security measures to protect the aircraft carrying the Iranian delegation for the high-stakes peace talks with the US in Islamabad, an aviation official said Saturday.
Among the measures was a Pakistan airline aircraft flying alongside the Iranian plane, which had its transponder turned off.
The high-powered delegation of Iran, led by Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Islamabad in the early hours of Saturday to participate in the Islamabad Talks.
The official in the Pakistani aviation told PTI that the Pakistan Air Force took extraordinary security measures in anticipation of and to deal with any untoward incident while the Iranian delegation’s plane was in the air.
The aircraft carrying the Iranian delegation departed from Gorgan Airport, located on the coast of the Caspian Sea, about 400 kilometres from Tehran, he said.
The Pakistani air traffic controllers were informed in advance that the aircraft’s transponder would remain switched off. With the transponder turned off, the aircraft could not be detected on secondary radar systems used for monitoring commercial flights. It could, however, still be tracked on primary military radar, though without basic identifying information, appearing only as a moving dot, he said.
One of the key protective measures involved a Pakistani airline aircraft flying alongside the Iranian plane, with its transponder switched on, he said.
Radar systems worldwide tracked the Pakistani Airbus A321 on this route, while the Iranian Airbus A300 flew discreetly alongside it with its transponder turned off. After escorting the Iranian aircraft to Nur Khan Airbase, the Pakistani plane returned to Islamabad Airport, he said.
The official said this arrangement was an air mobility deception tactic.
In addition, the Pakistan Air Force implemented further security measures. The Iranian aircraft flew over Afghanistan for an extended duration and entered Pakistani airspace via Chaman.
Throughout the journey, from the Gulf’s conflict zone to Afghanistan and up to Islamabad, a robust aerial surveillance and protection system remained active, involving AWACS and fighter jets, he said.
The US delegation, led by Vice President J D Vance, and the Iranian delegation are in Pakistan for high-stakes peace talks, four days after the two warring sides announced a two-week ceasefire after almost five weeks of hostilities.
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