Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, punctuated by “Israel’s” September 9, 2025 aggression on Qatar, Iran turned toward Saudi Arabia in search of defense cooperation, raising fundamental questions about whether the two sides could move closer.

The Yemeni Maritime Security Partnership conference in Riyadh, which brought together representatives from 40 countries, sparked questions about the reasons behind the initiative, its timing, and what impact it might have on the ground.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have signed a strategic defense pact after a decade of fluctuating ties, raising questions about why Riyadh turned to Islamabad now and whether the Israeli aggression on Qatar accelerated the agreement.

Amid the Israeli aggression on Qatar, urgent questions arose over Washington’s complicity and whether the Gulf states that normalized relations would go so far as to cut ties with the Israeli Occupation in defense of the Gulf system and its much-touted unity.

Egypt-Saudi tensions flared over Egypt’s $35 billion gas deal with "Israel", sparking Saudi criticism of Cairo for undermining the Palestinian cause.