If Saudi Arabia joins the US-Israeli war on Iran, it will activate its mutual defence pact with Pakistan and potentially lean on the South Asian country’s nuclear arsenal, a Saudi Arabian analyst told Canada’s CBC News. “We can say it literally that there is a nuclear umbrella over Saudi Arabia,” he added. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement last year, following an Israeli attack on Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar. Will the Iran war trigger a Saudi Arabia-Pakistan mutual defence pact? Saudi Arabia’s defence pact with Pakistan adds an additional layer to the war, underscoring how the fighting could spread across the globe if not contained.

Source: CBC News March 19, 2026 12:51 UTC