THEY'RE DEMOCRATS, NOT ARABS:

Pakistan shares a long border with Iran but has never been close to Tehran, choosing instead to ally with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. But relations between Tehran and Islamabad have been improving in recent years. While Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, 20% of its population is estimated to be Shiite, and sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis has been a problem for decades. With trouble on Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan and India, Islamabad wants to avoid tension on its Iran border.

Over the weekend, Pakistani lawmakers insisted that Gulf states should respect the verdict of Pakistan's Parliament.

"Monarchies perhaps do not understand the restrictions imposed on the government of Pakistan by being a democracy," said Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, a senator with the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement. "Parliament is the voice of the people of Pakistan."

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