Voice of Urdu – International News in English & Urdu

Pakistan Deepens Diplomatic Outreach to Iran as Houthi-Saudi War Escalates — AI-generated representative image: A formal diplomatic meeting setting, illustrating Pakistan's deepening diplomatic engagement with Iran amid the escalating re

Editorial Team

Islamabad balances Riyadh defence ties with quiet Red Sea mediation as Houthi forces seize Yemen's coast

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held two phone calls on Thursday night, one with Pakistan's chief of defence forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and another with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, capping the most dramatic week yet in the Houthi-Saudi war. The calls came as Iran-backed Houthi fighters seized control of all of Yemen's Red Sea coast by Friday morning, while strikes on Tuesday wounded 73 people and set oil facilities ablaze in four Saudi cities.

The escalation has raised fears that both of Saudi Arabia's main export routes, the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, could come under simultaneous pressure, pushing Brent crude above $107 a barrel. For Pakistan, which holds mutual defence pacts with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, the crisis poses a delicate dilemma between honouring its commitments to Riyadh and pursuing the diplomatic de-escalation path Islamabad appears to have chosen.

Rapid Houthi Advances Reshape the Conflict

Houthi drones and missiles struck four Saudi cities on Tuesday, wounding 73 people and setting oil facilities ablaze in what the Saudi-led coalition described as among the heaviest strikes of the war. By dawn on Thursday, Houthi fighters had reached the coastal town of Mocha and pushed offshore to seize nearby islands.

By Friday morning, they controlled the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast. Yemeni government officials said fighters also reached Dhubab on the Bab al-Mandeb coast, while boats carrying Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island at the heart of the strait after government forces withdrew. No official announcement by Houthi authorities has confirmed control of the strait.

Satellite images on Thursday appeared to show a fire along the East-West pipeline, Saudi Arabia's main Hormuz-bypass route carrying close to seven million barrels a day over 1,200km (746 miles) to Yanbu. Riyadh has not confirmed a pipeline strike.

A Familiar Diplomatic Script

Pakistan has faced this dilemma before. In April 2015, its parliament unanimously rejected a Saudi request for troops, ships and warplanes to combat the Houthis, resolving that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to play a proactive diplomatic role to end the crisis.

A closer precedent came this year. When Iran struck Saudi Arabia directly in February and March, the kingdom in April announced the arrival of Pakistani forces in Saudi Arabia, even though Islamabad did not directly enter the conflict. Javad Heiran-Nia, an Iranian analyst on regional security, said this shows the mutual-defence principle under the bilateral pact, known as the Mecca pact, does not mean automatic entry of parties if an attack occurs against the other.

Diplomatic Signals and Official Statements

Pakistan's military chief Munir has travelled to Tehran four times since April, with the latest visit last month coming days after a phone call from US President Donald Trump asking Islamabad to lean on Tehran. An Iranian source familiar with the contacts said three to four telephone conversations between Munir and Araghchi have likely occurred over the past week to ten days, with only two made public by the Iranian side.

At the Pakistani Foreign Office's weekly briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan declined to confirm reports that Islamabad had passed a Saudi warning to Iran, calling them unsubstantiated, and dismissed claims that Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan to strike Houthi positions as hypothetical. He did not deny that Pakistan was reaching out to the Houthis through Iran, saying Pakistan would continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy for peace and stability in the broader region.

What Comes Next

The specifics of the Munir-Araghchi call remain unclear, though analyst Heiran-Nia said Pakistan has conveyed Saudi Arabia's warning to Iran and asked Tehran to restrain its Houthi allies. Umer Karim, an analyst at Riyadh's King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, suggested the cost of inaction is increasing and that Pakistan may eventually be pushed to fulfil its commitments under both the bilateral pact with Saudi Arabia and the trilateral agreement including Turkiye, with Riyadh currently reevaluating the situation.