Analysis-Saudi Arabia bets on defensive alliances to deter slide into war

AI Summary

Saudi Arabia is forming regional defensive alliances to deter escalation of conflict, including attempts at a multinational maritime coalition in the Red Sea and defense pacts with Turkey and Pakistan. Despite these efforts, analysts say attacks linked to Iran and its allies continue.

By Timour Azhari RIYADH, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Increasingly dragged into a war it did not choose, Saudi Arabia is building regional defensive alliances that it hopes will keep its enemies at bay and help it respond more robustly to attacks by Iran and its network of regional allies. But nascent attempts to construct a multinational maritime coalition in the Red Sea, and the decision to bring Turkey into a defence pact with the kingdom and Pakistan, have so far failed to ward off attacks, analysts and diplomats said.