Web Desk: In a startling revelation, former CIA Counterterrorism Station Chief in Islamabad, John Kiriakou has claimed that former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan secretly contacted the U.S. ambassador before publicly accusing Washington of orchestrating his ouster.
According to Kiriakou, Imran Khan allegedly informed the American envoy that he intended to “blame the United States” for a conspiracy against his government but sought assurances that Washington would not take any action against him in response to the political rhetoric.
“Imran Khan reached out to the U.S. ambassador before his anti-American statements, seeking a kind of safety guarantee,” Kiriakou said in an interview, adding that the U.S. establishment took his request positively at the time.
However, Kiriakou claimed that Pakistan’s military leadership refused to honor any American recommendation in Khan’s favor, indicating a widening trust deficit between Islamabad’s military and Washington.
The former CIA official further alleged that Imran Khan sent a message to the Americans, saying, “Save me.” In response, Kiriakou said, the U.S. establishment reached out to Khan’s ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith and asked her to make contact with influential circles in Pakistan.
“Even Jemima’s intercession was rejected by Pakistani authorities,” Kiriakou asserted. Imran Khan secret contacts with the U.S did not bore any fruit. “The generals in Pakistan no longer follow our lead,” Kiriakou further said.
If true, these revelations shed new light on the complex relationship between Imran Khan, Pakistan’s military and the United States, especially following Khan’s ouster in 2022 an episode he has long portrayed as a foreign conspiracy.
Neither Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party nor U.S. diplomatic officials in Islamabad have yet responded to Kiriakou’s claims.
