Saudi Arabia and America
Abdulaziz ibn Saud took Riyadh in 1902 and the Hijaz in 1925, and declared the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Every king since has been one of his sons. In 1945 he met President Roosevelt aboard the USS Quincy, the start of a relationship built on oil and security.
King Faisal led the oil embargo of 1973 against American support for Israel and was assassinated by a nephew in 1975. King Fahd let US troops into the kingdom in 1990. In 2025 Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan, and the US named it a major non-NATO ally.
Israel and the Arab wars
Israel was declared in May 1948. About 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out, the Nakba. Wars followed in 1956, 1967 and 1973; in 1967 Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai and the Golan. Egypt made peace in 1979.
The Gaza war that began on 7 October 2023 killed more than 72,000 Palestinians according to Gaza's health ministry. A US-brokered ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 but has been repeatedly violated.
Afghanistan
The Soviet invasion of 1979 began ten years of war. The mujahideen, backed by the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, forced a Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and millions of Afghan refugees came to Pakistan. After a civil war the Taliban took Kabul in 1996.
The US invaded after 11 September 2001. Twenty years later the Taliban returned to Kabul on 15 August 2021. Since 2025 Pakistan and Afghanistan have clashed repeatedly over the TTP.
Iran and the United States
The US and Britain backed the 1953 coup against Prime Minister Mosaddegh. The 1979 revolution brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, and US diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. The Iran Iraq War of 1980 to 1988 killed hundreds of thousands.
After the 2015 nuclear deal and the US exit from it in 2018, the US killed General Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Israel and the US struck Iran in a 12-day war in June 2025, and a wider war began on 28 February 2026 in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed. A ceasefire mediated by Pakistan in April collapsed in July.
Iraq, ISIS, Syria and Yemen
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and was driven out in 1991. The US invaded Iraq in 2003, and Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006. In the chaos that followed, ISIS took Mosul in 2014 and declared a caliphate that the great majority of Muslim scholars rejected; it lost its last territory in 2019.
Syria's civil war began in 2011 and ended with the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. In Yemen the Houthis took Sanaa in 2014, and a Saudi-led coalition has fought them since 2015.
Pakistan's wars
Pakistan was born in August 1947 amid the bloodshed of Partition, and within months it was fighting India over Kashmir. A ceasefire in 1949 left Kashmir divided. Wars followed in 1965 and 1971; the second ended with the surrender at Dhaka and the birth of Bangladesh.
The Kargil conflict of 1999 came a year after both countries tested nuclear weapons. In May 2025, after the Pahalgam attack, four days of missile, drone and air strikes ended in a ceasefire on 10 May.
Where things stand
As of October 2026 the Iran war and the war in Yemen are still going, Gaza's ceasefire is fragile, and Pakistan and Afghanistan remain at odds. This chapter will be updated as events change.
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