Re: The Iran-Pakistan nexus
Blitzkieg here is the whole situation from Tom Coopers website
Finally, during the 1971 War, an agreement was reached with the Imperial Iranian Air Force to deploy a squadron of Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighters to Pakistan. These aircraft were actually owned by the USA, and – technically – only “loaned” to Iran in the frame of the Military Assistance Programme. By the time of the 1971 War, they were already slanted to be transferred to South Vietnam, Greece and Jordan, in 1972. The first four Iranian F-5As, however, arrived in Pakistan only on 16 December 1971: too late to take part in hostilities. The PAF operated them for few months and then all were returned to Iran. Unconfirmed Indian reports claim that Pakistan received also a total of 35 F-86Fs from Saudi Arabia and Iran during the war, but there is no confirmation for this as of now.