Pakistan eyes expanded defence bloc as regional security map shifts amid US-Iran tensions

• Turkiye and Qatar may join Saudi-Pakistan defence pact: Bloomberg report

• Framework being finalised for broader regional security cooperation, report claims quoting Khawaja Asif as saying

• Move comes as US-Iran conflict heightens tensions across Middle East and South Asia

• Pakistan emerging as diplomatic bridge between Washington and Tehran

• 2025 Saudi-Pakistan defence deal already binds mutual security commitments

 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has indicated that Turkiye and Qatar could join its mutual defence cooperation pact with Saudi Arabia, as the ongoing US-Iran conflict reshapes security alignments across the Middle East and South Asia, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The report cited Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif as saying that the arrangement is currently being finalised and could eventually evolve into a broader regional security framework.

The development comes amid heightened regional tensions triggered by the US-Iran conflict, which has drawn in several Gulf states and raised concerns over energy security, maritime trade routes and overall regional stability.

Pakistan has meanwhile emerged as a key diplomatic intermediary during the crisis, facilitating contacts between Washington and Tehran while continuing to call for dialogue and de-escalation.

“If Qatar and Turkiye also join this existing agreement, it will be a welcome development,” Asif said during a local television interview on Monday night, according to Bloomberg.

He said the initiative aims to build a wider platform of cooperation among “like-minded” countries to strengthen “regional stability and collective security.”

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a strategic defence agreement in September 2025 under which “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”

Since then, both countries have further intensified security coordination amid escalating regional tensions following Iran’s retaliatory actions against multiple regional targets.

Last month, a Pakistani military contingent was deployed to King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia to support joint military cooperation and regional security efforts.

An expanded arrangement involving Turkiye and Qatar would bring together several influential Muslim-majority states with growing regional security roles, including Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, whose ties have historically fluctuated but have improved in recent years.