Pakistan Backs Saudi Arabia After Houthi Strikes — SkimNews
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- Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call that Islamabad stands "completely" with Riyadh after recent Houthi attacks, warning the strikes threaten regional peace and could further disrupt global energy supplies.
- Saudi Arabia temporarily shut its 1,200-km East-West oil pipeline — a key alternative route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz — the day before the call following a drone attack launched from Iraq.
- Saudi authorities said a Houthi projectile injured two people and damaged several buildings, including a mosque, on Saturday, as part of a broader Houthi campaign of missile and drone strikes on Saudi cities and energy facilities.
- Sharif, alongside army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, will continue efforts to reduce tensions and restore peace in West Asia, according to the Pakistan PMO statement.
- A mutual-defense pact Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye signed on August 7 treats an attack on any member as an attack on all three, and the renewed Houthi strikes have drawn fresh attention to the agreement.
- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on September 9 there should be no ambiguity over the pact's commitment, warning that an unprovoked attack on a member or spillover from Yemen's conflict could activate its collective-defense provisions — comments that followed Houthi strikes injuring at least 73 civilians the prior week.
Why it matters: Saudi Arabia's pipeline shutdown after a drone strike from Iraq removes a key Strait of Hormuz bypass route, amplifying oil supply risk. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's September 9 warning that the August 7 Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye pact could be activated by an unprovoked attack on a member brings a formal collective-defense mechanism closer to triggering — a step beyond routine diplomatic solidarity.
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