Pakistan-Saudi Pact: 8,000 Troops, Jet Squadron, Air Defence Sent
On Tuesday that Pakistan has sent 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia as part of the September 2025 mutual defence pact, citing three security officials and two government sources who described the force as “substantial” and “combat-ready”. The aircraft were sent in April; the other assets at an unspecified later date. The deployment is required to uphold the pact in the context of repeated Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s simultaneous mediation between Washington and Tehran, including Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s 20 May Tehran visit, demonstrates Islamabad’s political-influence positioning in the region.
A resumption of the war could challenge Pakistan’s commitments to the Saudi agreement in new ways, ISW notes, which makes Islamabad invested in avoiding a return to conflict and explains the simultaneous mediation role. Qatar has also been playing a parallel mediating role, ISW reports, possibly causing tensions with Pakistan; an Arab official told Axios on 20 May that Qatar sent a delegation to Iran to obtain more tangible nuclear commitments from Tehran and more specifics from the United States on the release of Iran’s frozen assets. The triangular mediation structure (Pakistan + Qatar + the United Arab Emirates/Saudi Arabia direct intervention) is a significant change from earlier phases of the war when Pakistan was the sole channel.