US Senator Rick Scott on Tuesday sharply criticised Pakistan’s role in the US-Iran peace deal, accusing Islamabad of hypocrisy after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.In a post on X, Scott questioned Pakistan’s credibility as a mediator, writing: “We need to remember who Pakistan really is in the middle of all this. We’re talking about a country where bin Laden hid out for a decade, where they selectively enforce lopsided blasphemy laws to persecute Christians, and where the Prime Minister just praised the genocidal mass murdering tyrant that used to run Iran.”He added, “They’re no better qualified to ‘mediate’ this than the Hamas-harboring Qataris. Islamabad should take note; we’re watching closely.”Scott’s remarks came after Sharif attended Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran, where he paid tribute to the late Iranian leader. In a video shared by the senator, Sharif described Khamenei as “a great scholar and leader whom millions of Muslims will remember” and said, “Pakistan and Iran will march together under all circumstances.”The funeral drew vast crowds to the Iranian capital, with mourners dressed in black lining the streets for the procession. Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin, along with those of family members killed in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, was carried through Tehran during a procession that authorities projected as a display of national unity.The ceremony also featured anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, with many mourners calling for the deaths of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some carried placards demanding revenge, while others displayed effigies of Trump.The funeral comes as negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a permanent end to the conflict remain stalled. Talks are expected to resume only after Khamenei’s burial, with major disagreements persisting over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Strait of Hormuz and the wider regional conflict.
