Pakistan reaffirms 'honest broker' role in US-Iran conflict amid Makkah Alliance

Pakistan's military spokesperson, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has reiterated in a CNN interview that Pakistan is committed to acting as an "honest broker" in the escalating US-Iran conflict and preventing further regional expansion. Chaudhry stated that Pakistan has maintained a position of principled neutrality by openly condemning Israeli and US attacks on Iran as well as Iranian retaliatory campaigns against Gulf states, emphasizing that the country has "a stake in regional peace and stability."

When asked how Pakistan could remain neutral given Iran's past attacks on Saudi Arabia and current support for Houthi operations against the kingdom, Chaudhry stressed that Pakistan's commitment to honesty and transparency with all partners distinguishes its mediation role. He said Pakistan would continue efforts to "narrow differences" between parties and prevent the conflict from expanding "horizontally or vertically," while maintaining that no nation benefits from war escalation.

On the operationalization of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement—a trilateral pact signed in August among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye—Chaudhry confirmed that Pakistani troops have been stationed in Saudi Arabia for decades across multiple domains. He described the alliance's activation as purely defensive in nature, noting that the three signatory countries possess significant military and diplomatic capabilities. The agreement, which treats an armed attack against one member as an attack on all, was activated for immediate implementation during an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier in the week.

Chaudhry explained that specific operational deployment details would be determined by military commanders rather than disclosed publicly, citing standard military practice. He framed the Makkah Alliance as an expression of collective deterrence, arguing that shared military strength could discourage hostile actions. The ISPR chief emphasized that the alliance emerged from longstanding diplomatic, political, military, and people-to-people ties among the three nations, rather than as an isolated response to current tensions.