Former US National Security Advisor HR McMaster delivered a scathing assessment of Pakistan’s proposed role in bridging US-Iran divides, branding it outright as China’s ‘client state.’ His remarks, shared in an IANS exclusive, highlight simmering tensions in international diplomacy amid Beijing’s expanding influence.
McMaster painted a picture of Pakistan as inextricably linked to the Chinese Communist Party, rendering it unfit for neutral mediation. The timing is telling: President Trump had just scrapped plans for a second round of talks in Islamabad, amplifying the stakes.
Turning to China, McMaster accused Beijing of actively sustaining Iran’s theocratic government to serve its own geopolitical and commercial ends. ‘China buys up 90 percent of Iran’s oil, bankrolling activities that destabilize the region,’ he explained, underscoring the financial interdependence.
Pakistan’s mediation offer, in McMaster’s view, reeks of hidden agendas. Reflecting on his tenure, he called Pakistan’s approach to security ‘frustratingly duplicitous,’ where public anti-terror rhetoric masks support for militants—a pattern India has decried for decades, dating back to post-partition eras.
He elaborated on how Pakistan has weaponized terror groups in its foreign policy toolkit since the 1940s, a practice that persists today. With China’s economic bailout keeping Iran’s regime afloat, McMaster warned against overlooking these interconnections.
Ultimately, McMaster’s analysis frames Pakistan not as an honest broker, but as an extension of Chinese strategy. As US-Iran relations hang in the balance, his words serve as a stark reminder of the complexities in multipolar diplomacy, urging Washington to tread carefully with potential intermediaries.
