New Delhi, Sep 20: Pakistan defence commitments to Saudi Arabia could increasingly draw the country into the widening Middle East conflict, placing pressure on army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir as tensions between Riyadh and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen intensify, according to a report.

The defence pact initially appeared to be a strategic gain for Pakistan, with Munir present in Riyadh last September for the signing of the agreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Guardian reported.

Under the arrangement, Saudi Arabia would provide Pakistan with billions of dollars in investments and loans, while Pakistan would train Saudi forces and defend the kingdom in the event of an attack.

The report said analysts believed Pakistan had assumed that relations between the US and Iran would improve and that the possibility of a conflict spreading across the Middle East and Gulf remained limited. However, the situation changed after the US and Israel began bombing Iran, followed by Iranian missile attacks on Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia.

The conflict subsequently reignited Saudi Arabia’s confrontation with the Houthis, the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen. According to The Guardian report, the fragile Saudi-Houthi truce collapsed after the Houthis made territorial gains in Yemen and launched strikes and drones against Saudi territory. Saudi Arabia responded with airstrikes on Yemen, prompting concerns that a full-scale conflict could return.

The pressure on Pakistan increased further in August when the Saudi defence pact was expanded to include Turkey and renamed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. The three countries agreed that an armed attack on any one of them would be treated as an attack on all three.

The report quoted defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa as saying: “I don’t think Asim Munir properly calculated the threats the region was facing – and that Pakistan might need to put its troops on the line quite so soon.”

Saudi Arabia has substantial military hardware, including fighter jets and other war machinery, but, the report noted, it lacks direct warfare experience against the Houthis. Pakistan’s military could therefore be valuable to Riyadh, particularly because its forces have extensive experience dealing with security threats.

Analysts cited by The Guardian said that if Saudi Arabia activated the Mecca pact against the Houthis, Pakistan could face pressure to deploy troops, including thousands of personnel already stationed in Saudi Arabia for training.

The report also highlighted Pakistan’s economic dependence on Saudi Arabia, which has recently provided Islamabad with $8bn (£6bn) in funds and investments.

At the same time, officials in Pakistan are reportedly concerned about being pulled into the wider conflict. Pakistan shares a border with Iran and has its own security challenges, including militancy and instability along its borders.

The report said any direct Pakistani involvement against the Houthis could also be perceived as Islamabad taking a clear position against Iran, potentially creating further regional and domestic complications.

Raja Nasir Abbas, an opposition leader in Pakistan’s Senate, warned: “It will be a disaster for the country if Pakistan jumps into war.” He added that Pakistan was already facing “two lethal insurgencies”, while its economy was struggling and inflation had risen.

The wider Middle East conflict has continued to spread across the region, with the war involving Iran. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have emerged as another major front, with attacks also threatening energy infrastructure and regional shipping.

The latest escalation has also brought Mecca into the crisis. Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered the holy city’s prohibited airspace.

Tehran, Sep 20: A senior Iranian security official said Iran has not yet decided whether to withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), adding that any decision on the issue will depend on Washington’s behavior.

In an interview on Saturday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said the country is still committed to a religious decree issued by its late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which prohibits developing atomic weapons.

“However, we do not know what will happen in the future,” he noted, stressing that it is in Washington’s interest to accept Iran’s conditions for ending the war, which include ending hostilities on all fronts, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and lifting the anti-Iran naval blockade, Xinhua news agency reported.

He added that consultations with Qatari and Pakistani mediators are continuing, and Iran has informed them of its conditions for negotiations with the United States.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump will put Iran’s nuclear ambitions at the centre of his United Nations diplomacy next week, with talks planned with Gulf leaders and US officials warning of further consequences for entities doing business with Tehran.

Trump will address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday before meeting Gulf Cooperation Council leaders in New York. Officials said Iran would be a major subject of discussion, but did not confirm whether the president or other US representatives would meet Iranian officials.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the region, and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

On June 18, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war in the region on all fronts. Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on August 17, to reach a final agreement, but the talks’ fate remains unclear following a series of recent escalations between the two countries.

Tehran, Sep 20: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that participation in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York is Iran’s “legal right.”

“Being present in New York holds absolutely no appeal for Iran’s representatives. However, it is a stronghold that must not be abandoned. Iran’s participation in the UNGA’s session is a legal right, not a favor to be granted to us by someone. Iran is one of the UN’s 50 founding members,” Baghaei said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV.

“It is our duty as the Iranian nation’s representatives to attend this major international event to make the world hear the Iranian people’s rightfulness,” he said, accusing “the other side” of employing every available tool to prevent the Iranian delegation’s participation, Xinhua news agency reported.

Such “obstructionism and negative propaganda” will never make Iran back down from its legitimate right to participate in the session and articulate its positions, he said.

The United States said it would issue visas to Iran’s “core delegation” for the UNGA “consistent with our host country obligations,” according to a statement by the US State Department on Thursday.

“The delegation is smaller than last year,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump will put Iran’s nuclear ambitions at the centre of his United Nations diplomacy next week, with talks planned with Gulf leaders and US officials warning of further consequences for entities doing business with Tehran.

Trump will address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday before meeting Gulf Cooperation Council leaders in New York. Officials said Iran would be a major subject of discussion, but did not confirm whether the president or other US representatives would meet Iranian officials.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Trump’s speech would stress the importance of ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. He said that demand had also been reflected in repeated UN Security Council resolutions.

The speech would cover diplomatic agreements and unresolved conflicts, alongside progress on Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, Waltz told reporters here.

Asked about possible US-Iran meetings, the official declined to get ahead of the president’s or secretary of state’s final schedule.