Under a mutual defense agreement, Pakistan has deployed fighter jets and military personnel to Saudi Arabia to enhance the kingdom’s security, the Saudi defense ministry announced Saturday.
This move coincides with Islamabad hosting critical negotiations intended to resolve the ongoing Iran war.
The deployment follows recent Iranian strikes on the Gulf nation, which damaged essential energy infrastructure and resulted in a Saudi casualty.
The two countries solidified their long-standing security ties in September 2025 by signing a mutual defense pact.
This treaty mandates that any act of aggression against one signatory be regarded as an attack on both.
According to the Saudi defense ministry, Pakistani combat and support aircraft have arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Province.
The statement emphasized that the mission is designed to bolster joint defense cooperation while promoting regional stability.
Pakistan has traditionally served as a key military partner for Riyadh, providing training and advisory expertise. In exchange, Saudi Arabia has frequently offered financial lifelines during Pakistan’s economic downturns.
Demonstrating this continued support, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan visited Pakistan on Friday.
Al-Jadaan’s visit was intended to signal economic solidarity. This partnership has been underscored by previous interventions, such as the 2018 support package in which Riyadh provided $6 billion, split between a central bank deposit and oil supplies on deferred payment terms, reported Reuters.
US-Iran Talks
US and Iranian officials held separate high-level consultations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday, navigating a ceasefire made increasingly tenuous by fundamental disagreements and relentless combat in Lebanon.
Separate delegations, led by US Vice President J D Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, met with Sharif at his office to discuss the parameters of the peace process.
The Iranian team intensified its diplomatic stance, informing state media that they had presented specific components of their peace proposal as non-negotiable “red lines” during their sessions with Sharif.
Concurrently, Israel continued its military campaign in Lebanon, despite Tehran’s insistence that a pause in those hostilities is a prerequisite for a broader ceasefire. On Saturday alone, Lebanese state media reported at least three additional deaths from Israeli airstrikes.
The human and economic toll of the six-week conflict remains staggering, with estimated fatalities exceeding 3,000 in Iran, 1,950 in Lebanon, and dozens across Israel and the Gulf Arab states.
The hostilities have effectively paralyzed the Persian Gulf’s role in the global economy, driving energy prices to historic highs and causing extensive infrastructural damage across six regional nations.
As the “Islamabad Talks” continue, the window for a durable settlement remains narrow amid the ongoing violence.
