Pakistan has put on hold the provision of a $1.5 billion weapons shipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, after Saudi Arabia said it would not finance the purchase and that the agreement should be terminated, Reuters reported on April 21, quoting three Pakistani officials.

Reuters reported in January that the deal between the SAF and Pakistan was being brokered by Saudi Arabia and that it was in the "final stages" of negotiation. Many rank-and-file members of the SAF have expressed support for Iran since the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, with a leader of the Popular Congress Party declaring that his battalion was prepared to fight for Iran if the United States and/or Israel pressed ahead with a ground invasion.