Pakistan put in place a multi-layered air security plan to bring an Iranian delegation into Islamabad for talks with the United States, an aviation official said. The operation relied on a deception tactic in the air.
A Pakistani commercial aircraft flew alongside the Iranian plane, drawing attention on civilian radar, while the Iranian aircraft moved without standard identification signals.
The delegation, led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, landed early Saturday for the Islamabad talks.
The meeting comes days after Washington and Tehran announced a two-week ceasefire following weeks of conflict.
An official told PTI that preparations began before the aircraft entered Pakistani airspace, with the Pakistan Air Force on alert during the journey.
“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.
The Iranian aircraft departed from Gorgan Airport near the Caspian coast and followed a route that kept it away from high-risk zones. It spent time over Afghanistan before entering Pakistan through Chaman, the official 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.”
The official described the move as 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, is also in Pakistan for the talks, which follow weeks of hostilities between the two sides.