Adviser to Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Saturday that Pakistan was committed to its agreements with Saudi Arabia and was making efforts to reduce regional tensions by promoting rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply after US and Israeli airstrikes last month assassinated Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials, triggering a wave of retaliation from Tehran and widening the conflict across the region. In response to the attacks, Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US military bases in several Gulf countries, significantly expanding the scope of the confrontation. Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone strikes since the outbreak of war on February 28, with targets including US diplomatic missions and military bases, but also critical Gulf oil infrastructure, ports, airports, hotels and residential and office buildings.
While Saudi Arabia has publicly maintained that it is cooperating with Gulf countries to prevent a military confrontation in the region and has declared that it would not participate in any potential war, frustration is growing. On Thursday, the Saudi foreign minister said the kingdom reserves the right to act militarily against Iran and any confidence in Tehran has been shattered after Riyadh was hit by Iranian ballistic missiles.
Iran accused Israel of attacking its facilities at the huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a major escalation in the US-Israeli war that sent oil prices soaring, and retaliated by vowing to attack oil and gas targets across the Gulf and launch missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In the harshest comments to come out of the Gulf kingdom in nearly three weeks of war, Farhan accused Iran of premeditated acts of hostility against its neighbors, both directly and through a series of regional proxies, which he urged Tehran to rein in.
Amid rising tensions, Pakistan has reiterated its strong strategic commitment to Saudi Arabia while calling for restraint to avoid a wider regional conflict.
Speaking to the media after praying Eidul Fitr at his public secretariat today, Sanaullah said Pakistan had strongly condemned the aggression against Iran as well as the attack on its former supreme leader and reiterated its full solidarity with the Islamic world.
He said Pakistan not only stood by Iran but also condemned any aggression against other Muslim countries and reaffirmed its commitment to support them.
Sanaullah said that today Pakistan enjoyed the confidence of Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
“Pakistan has emerged as a symbol of peace and unity in the Muslim ummah,” he said, terming its role as crucial in maintaining peace and stability in the region.
He, however, said that national unity and political stability were imperative to effectively deal with the prevailing internal and external challenges in the country.
Sanaullah said that Pakistan is currently facing several challenges on various fronts, but it is successfully addressing them under the Prime Minister’s leadership, which has further strengthened its position at the international level.
Afghan tensions
Referring to Afghanistan, he said Pakistan’s position was very clear as it neither wanted to impose war on Afghanistan nor had any intention to occupy its territory.
“Pakistan only wanted that Afghan soil should not be used against any country, especially against Pakistan, which is in accordance with international law,” he said, adding that tensions between the two countries could end immediately if Afghanistan gave such assurances.
He also reiterated Pakistan’s respect for the Doha Agreement and adherence to international laws.
He said Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was conducted solely on intelligence-based information targeting terrorist hideouts.
“The security forces have effectively dismantled several sanctuaries used to train terrorists,” Sanaullah added.
The prime minister’s aide said that state institutions were fully committed to eradicating terrorism and had achieved significant successes in this regard.
