Pakistan has sent fighter jets and other military forces to Saudi Arabia to boost security under a defence pact between the two countries, the Saudi defence ministry said on Saturday, as Islamabad hosted talks aimed at ending the Iran war.
Riyadh and Islamabad signed a mutual defence pact in September 2025 © Mena Today
Pakistan has sent fighter jets and other military forces to Saudi Arabia to boost security under a defence pact between the two countries, the Saudi defence ministry said on Saturday, as Islamabad hosted talks aimed at ending the Iran war.
The deployment follows a wave of Iranian talks on the Gulf kingdom over the past weeks that struck key energy infrastructure and killed a Saudi national.
Riyadh and Islamabad signed a mutual defence pact in September 2025, committing both sides to treat any aggression against either country as an attack on both. That significantly deepened a decades-old security partnership.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said in a statement that Pakistani fighter jets and support aircraft had arrived at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in the country's eastern province.
It said the Pakistani deployment aimed to strengthen joint defence cooperation and support regional and international security and stability.
Pakistan has long provided military support to the kingdom, including training and advisory deployments, while Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stepped in to support Pakistan financially during periods of economic stress.
Saudi Arabia's finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan was in Pakistan on Friday to demonstrate economic support for the country, a source familiar with the situation said.
In 2018, Riyadh announced a $6 billion support package, including a $3 billion deposit at the central bank and $3 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payment.
Reporting by Asif Shahzad, Mubasher Bukhari and Saad Sayeed in Islamabad
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days," quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict a day after U.S. forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.
Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the U.S. to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that conclusions have been reached on many topics discussed in a potential 14-point memorandum of understanding, but this does not mean a deal to end the Middle East war is imminent.
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