Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a mutual defense pact that regards any attack on either nation as an attack on both in the wake of Israel’s strike on leaders of the Hamas terror group in Qatar. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long had close economic, religious and security ties to Pakistan, including reportedly providing funding for Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program as it developed. Analysts — and Pakistani diplomats in at least one case — have suggested over the years that the kingdom could be included under Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella, particularly as tensions have risen over Iran’s atomic program.
But the timing of the pact appeared to be a signal to Israel, which is widely acknowledged to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed state and has been fighting a multifront war in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre. Israel did not immediately acknowledge the pact, which was the first firm defense decision made by a Gulf Arab country since the Qatar attack last week.
The United States, which has long been the security guarantor for the Gulf states, also did not immediately acknowledge the agreement. Israel’s strike in Qatar last week targeted a meeting of Hamas’s top leadership, but while five members of the terror group were confirmed to have been killed in the attack, Israel has increasingly come to believe at least some of the intended targets were not. A member of Qatar’s security forces was also killed. (Read More)
