- DPM Dar accompanies Prime Minister Shehbaz on the journey.
- The Prime Minister’s trip comes amid the war between the US and Israel against Iran.
- CDF Munir recently met with the Saudi Defense Minister.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to discuss the tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israel war against Iran.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said Ishaq Dar, who holds the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, is also accompanying the Prime Minister.
Pakistan has stepped up diplomacy after the Iran War – which was caused by US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killed the country’s supreme leader and plunged the Middle East into conflict – with Prime Minister Shehbaz and DPM/FM Dar addressing their counterparts in the region as well as the Gulf nations to play their part in easing regional tensions.
Iran has targeted US bases as well as targets in the Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, and has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices skyrocketing – and warning the world should be ready for $200 a barrel. barrel.
Meanwhile, Defense Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman held a meeting last week where both sides discussed Iranian attacks on the kingdom within the framework of the joint strategic defense agreement between the two nations.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the landmark Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) last September, which treats an attack on either nation as an act of aggression against both.
In a statement released on X early Saturday, Khalid bin Salman said the meeting focused on ways to stop 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 “wrong calculations”.
Saudi Arabia intercepted two drones heading for the Shaybah oil field on Thursday as Iran targets the facility again in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets.
“Two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field were intercepted and destroyed,” a spokesman for the country’s defense ministry wrote on X.
It happened after Saudi Arabia confirmed on Wednesday that it had prevented several drone attacks against the facility, which is crucial for the country’s oil production.
speaks to Bloomberg TVThe prime minister’s foreign media spokesman Mohsarraf Zaidi said recently that there is no doubt that Islamabad will come to Riyadh’s aid “no matter what and no matter when”.
Although Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed regret over strikes in regional countries, Tehran has maintained that it will target the sites used to launch attacks on its soil.
The prime minister’s spokesman Zaidi emphasized that Islamabad and Riyadh have always “operated on the principle of being there for the other”.
