How Pakistan Is Using the Iran War to Reinvent Itself
Key takeaways
- They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help.
- In Trump’s second term, the relationship between the U.S.
- The LedeReporting and commentary on what you need to know today.
Vice-President J. D. Vance with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in Islamabad, in April.Photograph by Jacquelyn Martin / Getty Save this story Save this story Save this story Save this story On New Year’s Day of 2018, Donald Trump, like previous American Presidents, was fed up with Pakistan. “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years,” Trump tweeted, “and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Three days later, the U.S. cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Islamabad.
In Trump’s second term, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has shifted once again: today, Islamabad is helping Trump find a way out of a self-made crisis with Iran—a war that has convulsed the global economy and weakened the Republican Party going into the midterm elections. As the primary mediator between Washington and Tehran, Pakistan has earned newfound credibility as a peace broker and a security partner, accomplishing what no other country or international body has been able to do: hosting the first high-level, face-to-face meetings between Iran and the U.S. in more than a decade.
The LedeReporting and commentary on what you need to know today.