Islamabad kept both sides talking even as missiles were being launched. That tenacity looks to have paid dividends in a way that could yet reshape the Middle East's power dynamics.
Since last May's brief yet dangerous military confrontation between two nuclear-armed powers, a tenuous calm has held. But should a new war erupt, the margin of error this time will be far slimmer.
With war closing the Strait of Hormuz, Islamabad has become both broker and bridge, mediating between rivals while keeping Beijing's overland trade routes alive
The country is particularly exposed to energy market mayhem and has urgently trimmed its fuel demands, as three emergency Saudi oil shipments help keep the lights on at home.
Public sentiment in Pakistan often mirrors wider reactions across the Muslim world, but its size, strategic location, and nuclear status amplify global consequences
Does the declaration recently signed in Riyadh indicate a gradual transition towards a regional security architecture that will assume responsibilities long borne by external naval powers?
Come November, the Egyptian-American epidemiologist could become the first Muslim senator in US history, despite $70mn spent to defeat him in the Democratic primary