Pakistan has pledged full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and Gulf nations amid the crisis in West Asia, and Iran hit targets in Saudi territory after being attacked by Israel and the US. Islamabad and Riyadh recently signed a pact that treats any attack on one as an attack on both.
Following the US and Israeli attack on Iran and retaliatory strikes across the Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to convey Islamabad’s position on the escalating situation.
Posting on X, Sharif said, “This evening, I spoke with my dear brother, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to express Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the dangerous regional escalation that followed the Israeli attack on Iran and the subsequent strikes in the Gulf region.”
He added that Pakistan stands “in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the sisterly Gulf states during this difficult time.”
Sharif further said that Pakistan is fully prepared to play a constructive role for peace and expressed hope that the holy month of Ramadan would bring tranquillity and stability to the region.
Saudi Arabia “expressed its strongest condemnation of the blatant and cowardly Iranian attacks targeting the Riyadh and Eastern Province regions, which were repelled,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, as reported by Al Arabiya. Riyadh described the strike as “blatant and cowardly,” adding that its air defences successfully repelled the assault.
A full-scale conflict erupted in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. In response, Tehran and its allies, Hezbollah and the Houthis, fired missiles targeting Tel Aviv and American military bases in Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain on Saturday. Explosions were reported in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where an Asian national was killed by falling debris following the interception of Iranian missiles by air defence systems.
PAKISTAN-SAUDI DEFENCE PACT
Sharif’s backing comes months after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a major mutual defence agreement in Riyadh last year, declaring that any attack on either country will be treated as an attack on both.
The pact, called the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement, was signed during Sharif’s state visit to Saudi Arabia. According to a statement from the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office, “any aggression against either country shall be considered an act of aggression against both.”
The agreement legally allows Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to be considered in the defence of Saudi Arabia if required, underscoring the seriousness of the alliance. The formalisation of this joint defensive posture is intended to deepen bilateral security ties and reinforce deterrence against external threats, even as the region now teeters on the brink of a broader confrontation.
