- DPM Dar accompanies PM Shehbaz on the trip.
- The prime minister’s trip comes amid the US-Israel war over Iran.
- CDF Munir recently met with the Saudi Minister of Defense.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left for Saudi Arabia on Thursday to meet Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to discuss tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Ishaq Dar, who holds the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, also accompanied the Prime Minister.
Pakistan has stepped up its diplomacy after the Iran war – which was sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killing its supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into conflict – with PM Shehbaz and DPM/FM Dar reaching out to their counterparts in the region as well as Gulf countries to play their role in easing regional tensions.
Iran has targeted US bases as well as targets in Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, and has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending the price of oil soaring – and warning that the world should be prepared to pay $200 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Defense Force Chief Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman held a meeting last week during which the two sides discussed Iranian attacks on the kingdom as part of the joint strategic defense agreement between the two countries.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the historic Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) in September last year, which considers an attack on either nation as an act of aggression against both.
In a statement released Saturday morning, Khalid bin Salman said the meeting focused on ways to end the attacks, which he said do not serve the security and stability of the region.
He added that there is hope that the Iranian side will prioritize wisdom and reason and refrain from “miscalculations.”
Saudi Arabia intercepted two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field on Thursday, as Iran again targets the facility in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets.
“Two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field were intercepted and destroyed,” a spokesperson for the country’s Defense Ministry said on X.
The move comes after Saudi Arabia confirmed on Wednesday that it had prevented several drone attacks on the facility, which is critical to the country’s oil production.
Talk to Bloomberg Televisionthe prime minister’s foreign media spokesperson, Mohsarraf Zaidi, recently said it was indisputable that Islamabad would come to Riyadh’s aid “whatever happens and whenever.”
Although Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed regret over strikes in regional countries, Tehran said it would target sites used to launch attacks on its soil.
Prime Minister Zaidi’s spokesperson stressed that Islamabad and Riyadh have always “operated on the principle of being there for each other.”
