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Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye to Meet on Defense Pact Amid Houthi Attacks
Confirmed
In Short: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye will convene the Strategic Political Defense Committee in Riyadh next week to discuss the surge in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Apa.az (Azerbaijan) reported that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye will convene the top committee of their joint defense pact in Riyadh next week to review a surge in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Türkiye Today and Gulf Times also confirmed the meeting, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
According to Arabnews (Belize) and Indiatoday (Cabo Verde), the Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia since July, declaring a naval blockade and targeting Saudi territory and shipping. Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported that on Sept. 29, a drone struck the Taibah power distribution station in Madinah, disabling a transformer.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Türkiye Today noted that the meeting will focus on the current security situation facing Saudi Arabia and determine the three countries’ next steps. Arabnews (Belize) and Indiatoday (Cabo Verde) reported that the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye met in New York on Sept. 24, followed by a meeting of the three countries’ military chiefs in Riyadh the next day.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Türkiye Today stated that Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed the Houthi attacks and Pakistan’s obligations under the defense pact with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York. Dar said he had briefed Tehran on the trilateral defense agreement and that Pakistan would honor the pact.
Türkiye Today and Gulf Times reported that Dar disclosed that Iran had suggested engaging Yemen’s Houthis politically after the group’s attacks on Saudi Arabia. Dar stressed that any response would be decided jointly by Pakistan, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Türkiye Today noted that the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on Aug. 7, provides that an armed attack on any of the three countries would be considered an attack on all. Arabnews (Belize) and Indiatoday (Cabo Verde) reported that Dar said more than six countries are interested in joining the defense agreement, although he did not identify them.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Türkiye Today reported that the committee brings together the foreign ministers, defense ministers, and chiefs of General Staff from each of the three countries. Arabnews (Belize) and Indiatoday (Cabo Verde) stated that the military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye met in Riyadh on Friday to discuss strengthening intelligence sharing, military coordination, and the integration of defense capabilities.
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Türkiye Today reported that the military chiefs condemned attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting Makkah and Saudi Arabia’s civilian and economic infrastructure. Arabnews (Belize) and Indiatoday (Cabo Verde) reported that the officials condemned attacks on Saudi Arabia’s civilian and economic infrastructure.
All sources agreed that the meeting in Riyadh next week will focus on the current security situation facing Saudi Arabia and determine the three countries’ next steps in response to the surge in Houthi attacks. The sources also agreed that the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on Aug. 7, provides that an armed attack on any of the three countries would be considered an attack on all.
The sources concurred that the meeting will include discussions on strengthening intelligence sharing, military coordination, and the integration of defense capabilities. They also agreed that the military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye have condemned attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting Makkah and Saudi Arabia’s civilian and economic infrastructure.
Background
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye will convene the Strategic Political Defense Committee in Riyadh next week to discuss the surge in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye foreign ministers met to discuss joint defense measures following recent attacks on Saudi territory.
What's confirmed
- ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye will convene the top committee of their joint defense pact in Riyadh next week to review a surge in Houthi attacks on the Kingdom, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday.
- The meeting of the Strategic Political Defense Committee comes amid the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022, testing a three-nation pact signed in August that treats an armed attack on any member as an attack on all.
- The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia since July, when they declared a naval blockade on the Kingdom and began targeting Saudi territory and shipping.
- On Sept. 29, a drone struck the Taibah power distribution station serving the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, disabling a transformer without affecting the wider grid, according to the Saudi-led coalition, which blamed the Houthis.
- “If any one of us faces a challenge, we will help each other,” he said, comparing the collective defense arrangement to NATO and saying such cooperation was permitted under the UN Charter.
- Dar said 17 attacks targeted Saudi Arabia on Sept. 21 or 22, many of which were neutralized, and said Pakistan had condemned the latest strike on infrastructure in Madinah.
- The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye met in New York on Sept. 24 as the attacks intensified, followed by a meeting of the three countries’ military chiefs in Riyadh the next day, Dar said.
- He said the forthcoming committee meeting in Saudi Arabia would focus on the current security situation facing the Kingdom and determine the three countries’ next steps.
- Dar said he had also discussed the Houthi attacks and Pakistan’s obligations under the defense pact with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during their meeting in New York.
- “I made him realize that we are in the defense pact and, as Muslims, we have to honor it and, God willing, we will,” Dar said.
- He said Araghchi maintained that Iran had nothing to do with the Houthis or Iraqi militias and advised Pakistan to pursue political engagement with the group rather than military action.
- Asked whether Pakistan would publish the pact’s provisions, whether military intervention under it would require parliamentary approval and how joining strikes against the Houthis might affect Islamabad’s role as a mediator with Iran, Dar declined to elaborate.
What's still developing
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on Aug. 7.
- The three ministers exchanged views on regional and international security issues and reviewed steps towards operationalising the defence pact, which was signed by the three countries in Makkah on Aug 7.
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- Dar said Iran had distanced itself from the Houthis and Iraqi militias, and that President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi both want the matter concluded.
- More than six countries are keen to join the pact, Dar said, without naming them or saying whether all were Muslim-majority nations.
- The proposal comes as Saudi Arabia, which has accused the Houthis of targeting Islam's two holiest cities, faces escalating attacks.
- Saudi authorities said air defences intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu, and issued emergency alerts for Mecca, Jeddah and Yanbu.
- That caution may be connected to direct warnings the Houthis have issued to both countries, say analysts.
- They have launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia — and threatened allies.
- Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement’s political bureau, told an Iraqi television programme this week that Pakistan and Turkiye would be met with an “iron fist” if they entered the war.
- Tughral Yamin, a retired brigadier and senior associate at Islamabad’s Institute of Policy Studies, told Al Jazeera the constraints run on both sides of the pact.
- “Sending troops would be difficult because the Pakistan Army is stretched thin on ground due to external and internal threats,” he said, referring to ongoing border clashes with Afghanistan, persistent tensions with India and mounting attacks domestically by armed groups.