Pakistan is bound by a defense agreement amid Iran-Saudi tensions. Under this 2025 agreement, it may have to help Saudi Arabia. The Defense Minister has hinted that Pakistan could get involved in war if necessary, raising fears of conflict with neighboring Iran.
Islamabad: The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is deepening in the Middle East. Now the question is whether Pakistan will also jump into this fight along with America and Israel? Actually, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Ishaq Dar has given such a statement in the Parliament, after which this speculation has intensified. This has become a ‘well in front, ditch behind’ situation for Pakistan. On one side is its friend Saudi Arabia, and on the other side is its neighboring country Iran. If it supports Saudi, then direct conflict with Iran is certain. And if remains silent, friendship with Saudi may be in danger.
What is the whole matter?
It is the year 2025, when Saudi Arabia had signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement’ (SMDA) with nuclear power country Pakistan for its security. According to this agreement, if either country is attacked, the other country will come forward to help it. Now Iran is continuously attacking Saudi Arabia. In such a situation, according to the agreement, Pakistan may have to attack Iran to save its friend Saudi. But there is a big difficulty in this. Iran is a neighboring country of Pakistan and for Saudi sitting thousands of kilometers away, if Pakistan attacks Iran, then Iran can retaliate and attack Pakistan also. The fear of this is haunting Pakistan.
Amidst this confusion, on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Ishaq Dar, while talking about the Middle East crisis in Parliament, said, ‘We have brought to their (Iran’s) attention that we have an agreement with Saudi Arabia.’ It is believed that this is the first time that Pakistan has officially indicated that it can join the war if needed.
another big confusion
But the matter is not so simple. According to the United Nations (UN) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, no nuclear weapon country can use nuclear weapons for or on behalf of any other country. Apart from this, it is also not clear whether the agreement between Pakistan and Saudi includes nuclear assistance or not. If there is such a thing, then helping Saudi would be a violation of international rules for Pakistan.
In such a situation, now everyone’s eyes are on Pakistan’s next step. Will he give an open warning to Iran? Will the attack on Saudi be responded to by an attack on Iran? Or will he just give a warning and remain silent? These questions have further increased the tension in the Middle East.