Newsletters
Pakistan has been negotiating an expanded defense pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, Reuters reported Friday, citing five sources with knowledge of the talks.
The talks remain at an early stage, all the sources said, and could still be complicated by heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, one source told Reuters.
Reuters reported Thursday that there were mounting concerns in Islamabad that Pakistan's mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia, signed last year, could draw the country into the U.S.-Iran war.
After the Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched an attack on Saudi Arabia on Monday, nuclear-armed Pakistan told Iran it would treat attacks on the kingdom as attacks on itself.
Any defense deal with Kuwait, which has come under heavy attacks from Iran this year, would also raise questions about Pakistan's role in future mediation between the United States and Iran.
Kuwait has had a more limited defense agreement with Pakistan for training and joint exercises since 2023.
It is now seeking a show of force by Islamabad similar to Pakistan's pact with Saudi Arabia, including "thousands of Pakistani troops on the ground, fighter jets, drones, an air defense system, and other defense-related facilities," a Pakistani government official told Reuters.
It is unclear whether Pakistan is willing to go that far, given that its agreement with Saudi Arabia was the result of a decades-long close alliance with Riyadh.
"Kuwait's wish list includes everything," a Pakistani security official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters. "But let me be clear about one thing: We are not and we cannot consider a deployment of combat troops at this stage."
A Middle Eastern source confirmed that Kuwait has been in talks with Pakistan, including about defense procurement, but said it was "not clear this will amount to a defense pact per se."
Reuters said it spoke to four Pakistani sources and one Middle Eastern source, none of whom was authorized to speak on the record.
Pakistan's military media wing and Kuwait's information ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The report came as Iran said Friday that it targeted U.S. military sites in six Arab countries in retaliation for recent U.S. strikes on its territory.
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting their territories.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its Aerospace Force targeted a U.S. military base in Kuwait as part of the 12th wave of what it described as a retaliatory operation, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
The IRGC said the targets included a missile-defense detection-and-tracking radar, several weapons depots, two High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers and missiles stored for the system.
It claimed the strike triggered a large fire at the base.
The IRGC said the operation was carried out in response to recent U.S. attacks that it claimed targeted civilian facilities, telecommunications infrastructure, railway workers and vehicles, causing casualties.
The Kuwaiti army said several Kuwaiti soldiers were injured Friday morning after Iranian drones targeted multiple military facilities and bases in the country.
It did not disclose the number of casualties or identify the targeted sites.
Earlier, the army said its air defense systems intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting the country.
In Oman, the IRGC said its navy targeted radar sites, including a U.S. air-control radar, according to the ISNA news agency.
Citing an IRGC statement, ISNA reported that a naval control radar on the Salameh Rocks and a U.S. air-control radar in Oman's Ghanem region were targeted at dawn.
The IRGC claimed both sites were destroyed.
In Syria, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force struck a U.S. special operations command center in the Al-Tanf region, according to Fars News Agency.
The IRGC claimed the strike destroyed a radar system and several special operations helicopters.
It also claimed that a number of U.S. troops were captured during the operation.
2 min read
Jordan said it intercepted and shot down three Iranian missiles that entered its airspace, with no casualties reported, according to the state-run Petra news agency.
The IRGC, meanwhile, said it carried out a two-phase attack on U.S. fighter jets and aerial refueling aircraft stationed in Jordan using several ballistic missiles and a large number of drones, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Qatar's armed forces said they intercepted several aerial attacks targeting the country, according to the Defense Ministry.
Qatar's Interior Ministry said one child was injured from falling shrapnel during the interception operations.
The IRGC said it attacked the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, claiming it destroyed a long-range radar system and several U.S. aerial refueling aircraft.
Iran's army also said it launched a drone strike targeting facilities used by U.S. military aircraft at Al-Sakhir Air Base in Bahrain, claiming it hit areas where U.S. military helicopters and P-8 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft were stationed.
Bahrain's Defense Force said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed "a number of treacherous Iranian aerial attacks" Friday.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday that it completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran, marking the sixth consecutive night of U.S. military operations targeting Iranian military assets, mainly in southern Iran.
Regional tensions have escalated over the Strait of Hormuz as the United States and Iran continue exchanging attacks despite a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding signed last month to end the conflict and reach a lasting peace agreement.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
