Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been strong allies for over 50 years. Since the 1980s, the Saudis have sent billions to support Pakistan’s economy and military. In exchange, Pakistan has trained the Saudi military in various domains. The SMDA is a win-win for both partners: Saudi Arabia gets a strong hand in the region without going through the trouble of making a nuclear bomb that would invite scrutiny of the US and rest of the West, whereas Pakistan could get billions in dollars in new deals for weapons and projects to help Pakistan’s $100 billion debt problem, as noted by Group Captain MJ Augustine Vinod (Retd) in a recent EurAsian Times report. India views the pact as a direct threat to its strategic interests, introducing “nuclear-tinged ambiguity” that could embolden Pakistan in future confrontations. Meanwhile, the US embassy in Riyadh has warned of an imminent attack in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, home to much of the kingdom’s energy installations along the Gulf coast. “There is a threat of imminent missile and UAV attacks over Dhahran. Do not come to the U.S. Consulate,” the embassy wrote on its official X account.
The warning came just hours after the US mission in Riyadh was attacked by two drones that sparked a small fire on the embassy grounds, as Iran pressed on with retaliatory strikes across the Gulf. On Monday, the massive Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast went into partial shutdown after a strike by drones. The complex run by the Saudi state oil giant Aramco is home to one of the largest refineries in the entire Middle East and a cornerstone of the kingdom’s energy sector. Earlier, an Iranian drone attack hit the US embassy in Riyadh, sparking a small fire, a Saudi defence ministry spokesman said in a statement. “The US Embassy in Riyadh was attacked by two drones, according to initial assessments. The attack resulted in a limited fire and minor material damage to the building,” the statement said. The embassy later confirmed an attack and urged people to stay away, saying it would be closed on Tuesday. “Avoid the embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility,” a statement said, urging American citizens to “shelter in place”.
Earlier, witnesses said they had seen smoke over the building housing the US mission and heard loud explosions in the diplomatic quarter, home to foreign embassies in the Saudi capital. A source close to the Saudi army, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, told AFP that Saudi air defences intercepted four drones targeting Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter in the attack. In the aftermath, the US embassy issued shelter-in-place notifications for Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dhahran and limited non-essential travel to any military installations in the region. Later on Tuesday, the Saudi defence ministry said it had intercepted more than a dozen drones near the capital, Riyadh, and the city of Al-Kharj. “Eight drones were intercepted and destroyed near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj,” said defence ministry spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki on X. The attacks in Saudi Arabia coincided with a wave of missiles and drones launched at Gulf states, with the UAE defence ministry saying it was dealing with a barrage of ballistic missiles coming from Iran. In Qatar, the military intercepted two ballistic missiles early Tuesday morning, the country’s defence ministry said in a statement. Iran’s salvos have hit ports, airports, residential buildings, and hotels, along with military sites across the wealthy region of oil giants.
