Pakistan warns Iran to rein in Houthis as Riyadh strikes back

By Reuters 9 September 2026, 9:37 pm

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Houthis chant religious slogans as they celebrate Eid al-Ghadir, the day on which they believe Islam was completed as a religion by the appointment of Ali as Prophet Muhammad's successor, in Sanaa, Yemen, June 4, 2026. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Pakistan has delivered a Saudi warning to Iran to rein in its Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, after they stepped up attacks on the kingdom, in a coordinated effort to prevent the crisis from spiralling, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources tell Reuters.

The Houthis struck an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities yesterday, wounding 73 people, in one of the biggest attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the Iran war in February.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says that Saudi warplanes carried out 54 airstrikes across various Yemeni provinces over the past 12 hours, adding that they would “not go unanswered and unpunished.”

The escalating conflict, which represents a second theater of war to threaten global energy supplies, comes as Iran and the United States wage their biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping in the Gulf region since their war began.

Pakistan’s warning to Iran carries significant weight because of its defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

While officials in Islamabad stress any military role would be confined to defending Saudi territory, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif says attacks spilling into the kingdom could trigger a joint security arrangement involving Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad.

“An aggression on one country will be considered an aggression on all three countries,” Asif says on Pakistani TV. “There is no ambiguity or doubt… Unprovoked aggression or spillover… into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational.”

The Pakistani defense ministry, foreign ministry and the military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.