The conquest of the Sassanid (Persian) Empire by the Rashidun Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (634–644 CE) is a watershed moment in global history. How did a four-century-old superpower collapse in less than a decade? An academic breakdown.1/n
NEW: Damascus criminal court sentenced former Assad-era officer Atef Najib to death for premeditated murder and torture.
Najib, Bashar al-Assad’s cousin, was accused of overseeing the torture of detainees, including children, and responsibility for multiple deaths.
#Turkey, #Saudi Arabia, & #Pakistan are the core pillars of the emerging U.S. geostrategy of burden-sharing and burden-shifting in the Middle East, US wants to find a working relationship with US regional ally #Israel and navigate their relationship with #Iran at the same time.
8/You can't just be a neutral economic partner when the region is actively militarizing to contain your closest strategic partner(Israel). Because we lacked a hard power footprint,Delhi is now stuck on the outside of the most formidable strategic bloc the Islamic world has formed
The more you read Indian commentary on Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey defense pact,the more you realize the massive blind spot regarding the ME.Most analysts think this is just about containing Iran.They are missing the actual target: Israeli expansionism & its unchecked regional hegemony
On the face of it a very negative development for Indian interests.
There is no ambiguity in the text. An attack against any of the three countries will be considered aggression against all.
Does not say the countries will consult each other in such a case. The language is explicit.
Does this mean that if in response to a major terrorist attack by Pakistan India responds. Will this be considered an attack against Saudi Arabia and Turkey?
We will need to explore more options with the UAE , Israel, Greece and Cyprus. And Afghanistan.
We should consult Iran.
This pact is the aftermath of US/ Israeli attacks on Iran, the robust Iranian retaliation against US bases in the region and threats to the highly vulnerable energy and water infrastructure of the Gulf states.
If the US couldn’t protect the Gulf countries, Turkey and Pakistan cannot. On the contrary, by ganging up against Iran they are opening themselves to Iranian retaliation.
This defence pact is not a real deterrence against Iran .If Iran was not deterred by US power, including its nuclear arsenal, it won’t be intimidated by this Sunni defence pact.
India has reason to be concerned about the provision in the pact of enhancing all aspects of defence cooperation amongst these three countries.
Turkey is already arming Pakistan. Saudi Arabia can provide Pakistan financial resources.
Saudi Arabia must clarify that this pact is not directed against India.
We have friendly ties with Saudi Arabia. We are not threatening Turkey.
All this is a fall-out the disastrous US aggression against Iran.
7/ But as Israel expanded its military footprint, the Arab and Muslim world pivoted hard. While India was busy balancing trade deals and maintaining strong ties with Tel Aviv, the tectonic plates shifted right beneath us.
This security framework is aimed to limit Israeli strategic depth and reach, and in the meantime to curb Iran’s reckless behaviour. This is not Iran’s win for sure. Cuz they are not on the table as these agreements are being signed.
What in world is this now. An alliance framed to shape Iranian behaviour, and limit its reach is being attributed as Iranian victory. X is full of dumb people.
What this means is that three of the Quad nations (Saudi, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar), which earlier were informally trying to build a security framework after US forces leave West Asia, have now formalised the agreement. The key word is 'Collective Security). This joint defence agreement is a big win for Iran's regional framework which was announced by Abaas Agrachi in March 2026 after his meeting with President Putin in Moscow & Wang Yi in Beijing!
Anyone still peddling the neutrality myth about Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, China, Iran & Malaysia in a potential Indo-Pak conflict is operating on outdated assumptions. These states have clear strategic alignments and will tilt decisively toward Pakistan. The next kinetic escalation risks full-spectrum economic strangulation disrupting supply chains, energy corridors, and financial flows enough to impose a near-total shutdown on India’s economy.
If A.S. Dulat's claim is true, it reopens one of Kashmir's biggest political questions: Were Kashmiris misled after the 1975 Indira–Sheikh Accord? His remarks are likely to trigger fresh scrutiny of Sheikh Abdullah's legacy and the politics surrounding Article 370.
Interesting transformation of Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, "Without proper religious and moral education, bid'ah and misconceptions continue to spread across society. We seek to build a sound and morally grounded Islamic society."
Having said that, the mood in Islamabad has changed drastically, no group is being openly supported, ties are being maintained with all sides, and kinetic actions are a norm.
This is not in isolation, Taliban backstabbed ISI, Mullah Yaqoob made a grave mistake. Now #Afghanistan is back to civil war. You cannot achieve peace in Kabul if you try to burn Islamabad, it is the only truth Afghans need to realise.