ISLAMABAD (AP) – Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a mutual defense agreement that considers attacks on either country to be both attacks. Israel’s strike against Qatar.
Saudi Arabia has long had close economic, religious and security ties with Pakistan, including funding the nuclear weapons programme developed for Islamabad’s nuclear weapons programme. Analysts, and Pakistani diplomats in at least one case, have long suggested that the kingdom will be included under the nuclear umbrella of Islamabad, especially as tensions are rising. Iran’s Atomic Program.
However, the timing of the agreement appeared to be a signal for Israel. It was suspected to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East. A vast military attack Since Hamas’s attacks on Israel have grown beyond Iran, Lebanon, Palestinian territory, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.
Israel did not immediately approve the agreement, which was the first solid defensive decision made by the Gulf Arab states since Qatar’s attack last week.
Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman signed an agreement with Pakistan Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by both Pakistan’s foreign ministry and the state-run Saudi media outlet, the agreement states that “aggression against either country is considered an attack on both.”
“The agreement aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and to enhance joint deterrence against attacks,” the statement said.
Long defense relationship
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have defence ties dating back decades due to Islamabad’s willingness to defend the kingdom’s Mecca and Islamic holy sites in Medina. The Pakistani military first travelled to Saudi Arabia in the late 1960s over concerns about Egyptian war in Yemen at the time. These ties increased after the kingdom’s fears of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the conflict with Tehran in 1979
Pakistan has developed a nuclear weapons programme Countering the Indian atomic bomb. But for a long time there has been a signal of the Kingdom’s interest in the programme. Retired Pakistan Brig. General Feroz Hassan Khan said in his book on his country’s nuclear weapons programme called “Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb,” that Saudi Arabia provided “generous financial support” for its efforts.
In the 2007 US Diplomatic Cable published by WikiLeaks, American diplomats in Saudi Arabia pointed out that their Pakistani counterparts brought up the idea that they would pursue an arms program alongside Islamabad.
“According to these officials, they want to protect themselves and the region, and in their opinion, it is logical for Saudi Arabians to intervene as physical “protectors” as Saudi Arabians are permeating the conflicts in the region, as they lurk in local conflicts, as Saudi Arabians are permeating the conflicts in the region, as they want (Saudi Arabia) to protect themselves and in their opinion, and in their opinion, players in other regions, especially Egypt, are unable to develop such weapons systems due to financial constraints.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking US support to advance its private nuclear program, despite the proposal for a diplomatic approval agreement with Israel prior to the 2023 attack on Hamas. This allows Saudi Arabia to enrich the uranium of the kingdom. This is what makes non-diffusion experts worry when opening the door to a spinning centrifuge capable weapons program. Prince Mohammed says that if Iran has it, the kingdom will pursue nuclear weapons.
Before the defense agreement was signed, Iran sent Ali Larijani, a senior politician who is now the secretary of the country’s highest national security council, to visit Saudi Arabia. It may have seen the kingdom accept the agreement to Tehran.
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Gambrel reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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