The prolonged US-Iran conflict has pushed many Gulf states to reassess their defense needs. For Pakistan, which has played a mediating role in negotiations between Tehran and Washington, the situation represents an opportunity to stabilize its fragile economy and expand its diplomatic influence globally.
However, the emerging security partnerships between Islamabad and Middle Eastern capitals are also reshaping regional dynamics, with analysts warning that they could create new tensions between states.
Kuwait has become the second Gulf country to ratify a defense agreement with Pakistan, covering military training, personnel exchanges, and intelligence cooperation. Although signed in June 2023, the agreement received final approval from the Kuwaiti Cabinet only last week, according to Kuwait’s official gazette, Al-Kuwait Al-Youm, on July 26.
Last year, Saudi Arabia signed a mutual strategic defense agreement with Pakistan, including a clause similar to NATO’s Article 5, stating that “any aggression against either country would be considered aggression against both.”
Pakistani officials say that a separate defense agreement between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia has already been drafted and is awaiting final consensus from all three parties.
Separately, leaders of the so-called “regional quartet,” or R4 — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey — have been discussing closer cooperation since the 12-day conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran in June 2025.
The foreign ministers of these countries held their fourth consultative meeting in Cairo on June 21, where they discussed regional developments. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry later said the meeting reaffirmed the importance of continued consultation and coordination “in support of peace, security, stability, and prosperity” in the Middle East and the wider region.
Earlier in February, Turkey signed a military framework agreement with Egypt while advancing a joint aerospace production initiative with Saudi Arabia.
Before ratifying its defense agreement with Pakistan, Kuwait, like other Gulf states, had repeatedly been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones, causing infrastructure damage and casualties. Kuwait hosts at least three US military bases, with an estimated 13,000 American personnel stationed there.
Analysts say the urgency among wealthy Gulf states to seek defense agreements with Pakistan and establish new alliances was driven by vulnerabilities in their defense systems against missile and drone attacks from Iran, despite being allies of the world’s most powerful military force, the United States.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a former Pakistani senator and defense analyst based in Islamabad, said Middle Eastern countries have begun a “reassessment” of their policies after “around 16 [American] bases were unable to prevent Iranian missile and drone attacks.”
Sayed described Pakistan as a “center of gravity,” as it acts as a bridge between Tehran and Washington on peace issues while maintaining close relations with China.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said Pakistan possesses military capabilities combined with strategic flexibility.
“It maintains relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and the United States, without fully joining any one camp, making it a valuable security partner in an increasingly multipolar region,” he said.
“The new security arrangements emerging in the region are more overlapping partnerships than clearly defined blocs,” Vatanka told Radio Free Europe, referring to relationships between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the UAE and India, as well as China and Pakistan.
Such arrangements give “states more room for maneuver, but they also make regional crises more complex and harder to manage,” he added.
As Pakistan expands its influence in the Middle East, its much larger neighbor, India, has already established strong ties with Israel and the United Arab Emirates — countries that were once considered among Pakistan’s closest partners.
Apparently dissatisfied with expanding defense ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as Islamabad’s mediating role in the Iran-US conflict, Abu Dhabi requested in April that Pakistan immediately repay a $3.5 billion loan.
For decades, nuclear-armed Pakistan has depended on financial support and loans from wealthy Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Its fragile economy has also relied heavily on US assistance, particularly during the Afghanistan war from 2001 to 2021, as well as loans from the International Monetary Fund.
“For Pakistan, the driving factors are its fragile economy and the constant risk of isolation from its much larger neighbor, India. For Gulf states, the motivation is strengthening their defense capabilities through the development of domestic military industries and technological advancement, which have brought them closer together,” said Feroz H. Khan, a former Pakistani army brigadier and researcher at the Naval Postgraduate School in California.
Khan told Radio Free Europe that Gulf states have lost confidence in the previous security architecture under the US umbrella after being targeted by both Iran and Israel.
“They are now more interested in building an independent security apparatus rather than relying on external powers,” Khan said.
Pakistan and India, both nuclear-armed states, have fought several wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. With its larger territory, population, economy, and defense capabilities, India has traditionally been considered the dominant regional power in South Asia.
“As part of its strategic importance, Pakistan has created a role for itself in the Middle East by presenting itself as the eastern fortress of the Muslim world,” Khan said. “Instead of trying to compete with a much larger India in South Asia, Pakistan has successfully used the US-Iran conflict to position itself as a Middle Eastern power.”
