Pakistan warned Iran on Wednesday that continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could trigger a mutual defense agreement that would pull Pakistan directly into the conflict. The warning came a day after Houthi drones and missiles struck four Saudi cities, damaging oil infrastructure and wounding dozens of civilians.
Saudi forces, backed by Yemen’s internationally recognized government, hit back with airstrikes and ground operations against the Houthis, the Iran-aligned group that seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and large stretches of the country back in 2014.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a television interview that further Houthi strikes on Saudi territory could activate the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a pact Pakistan signed with Saudi Arabia and Turkey in August that carries a mutual defense clause modeled on NATO’s Article V.
“An aggression on one country will be considered an aggression on all three countries,” Asif said. “There is no ambiguity or doubt. Unprovoked aggression or spillover into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational.”
A senior diplomatic source told Reuters that Pakistan privately delivered this message to Tehran within the past 24 hours, urging Iran to pull the Houthis back. Iran’s reported response: “Iran does not control the Houthis.”
That claim doesn’t hold up against what two Iranian sources told Reuters. According to those sources, Iran directed the Houthis to strike Saudi Arabia last week, promised additional funding and weapons for doing so, and dispatched senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers to coordinate the operation. Tehran, squeezed by U.S. sanctions, airstrikes and blockades, has grown increasingly reliant on hitting American allies’ oil infrastructure to apply pressure of its own.
Pakistan and Turkey are reportedly reluctant to take direct action against Iran or wade into Yemen’s long civil war, but Saudi Arabia is pushing both countries to honor their commitments under the Mecca pact. Officials from all three nations met in Riyadh on Wednesday and agreed that any joint response would be defensive and staged from Saudi soil. One source told Reuters that Pakistan is willing to “provide military, technical, ground, or air support within Saudi Arabia,” but “would not take part in combat operations on foreign soil.”
Strikes Continue, Houthis Seize Key Port
The Houthis hit Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan with ballistic missiles and drones on Wednesday. So far, none of Saudi Arabia’s coalition partners have responded, and the Saudis themselves haven’t publicly announced retaliation, though Houthi media claim 32 people were killed in Saudi airstrikes over Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha, roughly 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint through which about 12 percent of global shipping, including large volumes of oil, currently passes. Iran wants the group to be able to shut it down. Mokha itself carries centuries of history as a coffee-trading hub, lending its name to the modern “mocha” drink.
Reuters reported that a Houthi propaganda video showed fighters chewing qat, a narcotic leaf, while chanting “Death to America! Death to Israel!” to celebrate the city’s capture.
Unconfirmed reports Thursday said the Houthis also pushed toward Dhubab, a town sitting directly on the strait. Forces loyal to Yemen’s government reportedly moved to hold the line there, since Dhubab is seen as critical to control of the waterway.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, told NBC News the rapid Houthi gains reflect less about the group’s strength than the collapse of its opponents.
“What is striking is how quickly government defenses appear to have unraveled once several axes came under pressure simultaneously,” Krieg said.
Houthi officials said Thursday they do not intend to close the Red Sea or the strait to ships other than those flagged to Saudi Arabia. But Krieg warned that Houthi control of the strait could “effectively connect the Hormuz and Red Sea crises into one global energy-security crisis.”
