As Houthi missiles and drones rain down on southern Saudi Arabia, Pakistan finds itself pulled in two directions at once: bound by new defence commitments to Riyadh, yet determined to keep its diplomatic channel to Tehran — and its hard-won role as a mediator — alive.
The pressure intensified this week after Houthi forces struck the southern Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Khamis Mushait and Najran, wounding at least 73 people and forcing a temporary halt at several energy facilities. The rebels have also declared a naval blockade of the kingdom in the Red Sea, attacked Saudi oil tankers, and seized the Yemeni port city of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
For Islamabad, the stakes are unusually personal. Under a trilateral defence pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in Mecca on August 7, an armed attack on one member is to be regarded as an attack on all — though the agreement leaves unresolved what military obligations would actually follow. Pakistan has already deployed troops to the kingdom under its separate bilateral defence pact, after Iranian-linked strikes in the neighbourhood heightened regional tensions. Analysts note the most likely contribution would be air defence, counter-drone systems and intelligence sharing rather than ground troops in Yemen.
Yet Pakistan is simultaneously talking to the other side. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni's visit to Islamabad underscored Pakistan's role as a key mediator in the wider US–Iran conflict, even as diplomacy struggled to salvage a collapsed interim deal. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has kept both capitals in the loop — briefing Riyadh on the latest US–Iran mediation round in Doha, while urging all parties to give mediation "the necessary time and space."
The balancing act is delicate. Islamabad has reason to remember 2015, when parliament voted to stay out of the Yemen war; a mutual defence pact makes such a refusal far harder to sustain today. With oil prices climbing and the Red Sea corridor under threat, Pakistan's ability to honour its Saudi commitments without torching its Iranian channel may prove one of the defining tests of this conflict.