Pakistan has deployed fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, its first visible military move under a mutual defence pact between the two countries, as it hosts ceasefire talks aimed at ending weeks of regional fighting between the US, Israel and Iran.
\nThe aircraft \u2014 a mix of fighter and support jets \u2014 landed at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Eastern Province on Saturday, the Saudi Ministry of Defence announced.
\nThe deployment came under a collective defence agreement signed in September 2025, which commits each country to treat an attack on the other as an attack on itself.
\nThe pact was signed during a visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Riyadh last September, where he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
\nAs the jets touched down in the kingdom, Pakistan was hosting direct negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad, with senior delegations from both sides at the table and Pakistani mediators in the room, working on ending the weeks-long war.
\nSince Iran launched missile and drone strikes on what it described as US targets in Gulf states following the US-Israeli killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 28 February, Pakistan has been balancing its commitments on both sides.
\nForeign Minister Ishaq Dar said he personally warned Iranian leaders that Islamabad was bound by its obligations to Riyadh under the agreement in early March.
\nIran sought guarantees that Saudi territory would not be used to attack it, Dar said, adding that he secured those assurances.
\nIranian attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia, however, have continued, including key bases and a US embassy building.
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\nArmy chief Field Marshal Asim Munir flew to Riyadh in early March to discuss measures to halt Iranian strikes under the pact\u2019s framework.
\nFour days before Saturday\u2019s fighter jet deployment, Sharif called the crown prince to pledge Pakistan would stand \u201cshoulder to shoulder\u201d with the kingdom.
\nThe two countries also agreed to expedite a pledged Saudi investment package for Pakistan worth $5bn.
\nEarlier on Saturday, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan had met Prime Minister Sharif in Islamabad alongside Dar and Munir.
\nSaudi Arabia is home to some 2.5 million Pakistani workers whose remittances help sustain a fragile economy, and has provided Islamabad with repeated financial assistance.
\nImtiaz Gul, an Islamabad-based security analyst, told Al Jazeera the deployment was not a military escalation, but an attempt to communicate Pakistan\u2019s commitments to Iran.
\n\u201cThree jets won\u2019t make much of a difference militarily,\u201d he said, given the scale of Saudi Arabia\u2019s own air force.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s messaging Tehran to be flexible in these talks, but also it is underlining to them that Pakistan has obligations under the mutual strategic agreement it has with Riyadh,\u201d he said.
\nMichael Kugelman, a resident senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that Pakistan\u2019s move was \u201ca bit of a risky gambit\u201d.
\n\u201cThis is Pakistan signalling to Iran that if Iran is not willing to make the types of concessions that lead to a deal and the conflict resumes and escalates, there is a chance that Pakistan could move itself closer to Saudi Arabia and concievably invoke the mutual defence pact,\u201d Kugelman said.
\n#Pakistan #SaudiArabia #USIranCeasefire #MiddleEastConflict #DefensePact #RegionalSecurity #Diplomacy #FighterJets #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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