GOP senators blast Qatar, Pakistan as Iran deal
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- Senators Rick Scott and Tim Sheehy criticized Qatar and Pakistan as intermediaries in Iran peace talks, accusing both of histories of "harbouring terrorists" — publicly contradicting Vice President JD Vance's diplomatic outreach.
- Scott wrote on X that Qatar and Pakistan are "far more invested in propping up Iran's decades-long terror campaign than achieving a meaningful peace," while insisting there is "ZERO chance Iran comes out of this able to build a nuclear weapon."
- Sheehy told Fox News that "Pakistan hid bin Laden for a decade" and "funded Ayatollah through ISI insurances," while alleging Qatar has been "laundering money for terrorist organisations for decades."
- Sheehy pushed for the UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to be brought into the talks, calling those three countries "our vanguard in the region" and Washington's real Middle East allies.
- JD Vance, negotiating in Switzerland with Pakistani and Qatari leaders, called Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir one of his "two favourite people" alongside his wife, and said he had spoken to Munir more than "anybody else" in three months.
- The Switzerland talks are addressing the "technical details" of a US-Iran peace deal, even as Republican senators publicly question the credibility of the nations Vance is engaging with.
- The clash has intensified scrutiny of Vance's outreach and of which countries the US treats as credible partners in Middle East negotiations.
Why it matters: Two sitting Republican senators publicly branding the US's current negotiating partners — Pakistan and Qatar — as terrorist-harbourers while Vance is actively meeting their leaders splits the administration's voice and could give Iran leverage to dismiss the talks as unserious, especially as Scott explicitly ruled out any deal that leaves Iran capable of building a nuclear weapon.
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