Pakistan has condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia at the United Nations, warning that escalating fighting in Yemen and increased activity around the Bab al-Mandab Strait threaten regional stability, global shipping and energy security.
Speaking at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Yemen on 15 September, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms” and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.
Pakistan also reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s legitimate right, consistent with the UN Charter and international law, to take necessary measures to defend its territory, citizens and national assets.
It described the expansion of Houthi attacks around the Bab al-Mandab Strait as “a serious escalation”, warning that threats to commercial shipping could affect freedom of navigation, international trade, global supply chains and energy security.
The Security Council met again less than a week after an earlier emergency meeting, with fighting intensifying along Yemen’s western coast. The UN said Houthi forces had advanced towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait and reportedly captured several islands in the southern Red Sea.
The strategic strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries a substantial share of international trade and energy shipments.
Pakistan warned that the relative calm maintained in Yemen since 2022 had collapsed, raising the risk of renewed full-scale conflict and potentially pulling Yemen deeper into the wider regional confrontation.
Islamabad called for urgent de-escalation, dialogue and the resumption of an inclusive, Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political process with UN support.
The latest escalation follows Houthi attacks on several locations in southern Saudi Arabia on 8 September. Saudi authorities said 73 civilians were injured in attacks targeting Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran. Renewed fighting in Yemen has also displaced more than 100,000 people, according to the UN refugee agency.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif separately condemned an attempted drone attack targeting the holy site in Makkah, expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint. He said dialogue and diplomacy remained the sustainable path towards peace.
Pakistan military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with Al Arabiya English on Wednesday that the trilateral defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye was defensive and designed to provide collective deterrence, with no regional aspirations.
He said the pact provides for an attack on one member to be treated as an attack on all three, while details of how the defence commitments would be operationalised remain classified. The agreement was signed on 7 August, with Pakistan initially heading its secretariat for three years.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said an expansion of the grouping is not currently on the cards.
Pakistan has continued to back Saudi Arabia while calling for diplomacy, as Houthi attacks and advances towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait fuel concerns over regional security and international shipping.
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