US Senator Rick Scott has questioned Pakistan's role as a potential mediator in the US-Iran ceasefire process, accusing Islamabad of hypocrisy and citing its record on terrorism and religious persecution.
In a post on X, Scott shared a video of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paying tribute to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during funeral ceremonies in Iran.
The video showed Sharif describing Khamenei as "a great scholar and leader whom millions of Muslims will remember" and saying that "Pakistan and Iran will march together under all circumstances."
Reacting to the video, Scott slammed Pakistan's credentials as a mediator and referred to its past links with terrorism.
"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 said.
The Republican senator further asserted that Pakistan is "no better qualified to 'mediate' this than the Hamas-harbouring Qataris."
He also warned Islamabad, saying, "Islamabad should take note; we're watching closely."
Meanwhile, funeral ceremonies for Khamenei continued in Iran on Tuesday, with tens of thousands gathering in the holy city of Qom, where his remains are lying in state at the Jamkaran Mosque.
Iranian state television showed large crowds attending prayers led by senior cleric Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, during which mourners chanted "death to America." State media also broadcast images of mourners and clerics paying their respects beside the coffins of Khamenei and four members of his family who were killed alongside him, including a 14-month-old granddaughter.
The funeral ceremonies follow a mass procession in Tehran on Monday. Another procession is scheduled in Iraq on Wednesday, before Khamenei's final burial on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad.
(With inputs from ANI)