Houthis Hit Saudi Cities Again; Pakistan Warns Iran
Houthis Hit Saudi Cities Again; Pakistan Warns Iran
The News
Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked southern Saudi Arabia for a second straight day, and Riyadh is hitting back inside Yemen — a second front in the region's war that runs straight through the world's oil supply.
The Houthis struck the southern Saudi cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan with ballistic missiles and drones on Wednesday, a Saudi-led coalition said, the second consecutive day of attacks on the kingdom.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the Iran-aligned group was "persisting" in attacks on Saudi national assets and infrastructure, and promised a response "responsibly" to protect Saudi sovereignty and civilians.
Saudi civil defence issued an all-clear on Thursday after an emergency alert in the southwestern province of Khamis Mushait — the fourth alert in 24 hours, Reuters reported. No casualties were reported in connection with the Thursday alerts.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has delivered a Saudi warning to Iran to rein in the Houthis, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources told Reuters, in a coordinated effort to keep the crisis from spiralling.
The Numbers
Tuesday's Houthi strikes on an airbase at Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities wounded 73 people, Saudi officials said — one of the biggest attacks on the kingdom since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in February.
The World Health Organization says the fighting has killed or wounded more than 1,000 people since Aug. 24 and displaced tens of thousands, according to Al Jazeera.
Timeline
The Houthis seize Yemen's capital, Sanaa, driving out the internationally recognized government. A Saudi-led intervention follows the next year, beginning a war that killed an estimated 150,000 people.
A United Nations-brokered truce largely halts the large-scale fighting.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran begins, with Washington imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
Clashes resume after a strike on the Houthi-held Sanaa airport. The Houthis declare a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea; the Saudi-led coalition strikes what it calls Houthi military facilities in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a mutual security pact.
Houthis hit the airbase at Khamis Mushait and oil installations in nearby cities, wounding 73 and setting oil facilities ablaze. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says the attacks answered 121 Saudi airstrikes, including one on a prison in al-Hazm in al-Jawf governorate.
Second day of attacks on Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan. Saudi civil defence lifts alerts in Khamis Mushait and Abha. Yemen's government-run Saba news agency says Houthi shelling in Marib killed three children, including an infant, and wounded six others. The Houthis say the death toll from the al-Jawf prison strike has reached at least 32.
Alerts sound again in several Saudi provinces early Thursday; Saudi authorities say there is no danger after the Khamis Mushait alert.
Reactions
Saree said Saudi forces carried out 54 airstrikes across six Yemeni provinces — al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and al-Bayda — over 12 hours on Wednesday, and named King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif as the launch points. "These airstrikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered and unpunished, by the will and power of God," he said. Saudi Arabia has not announced or confirmed strikes in al-Jawf.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said spillover into Saudi Arabia could activate the three-country pact. "An aggression on one country will be considered an aggression on all three countries," Asif said on Pakistani television. "There is no ambiguity or doubt... Unprovoked aggression or spillover... into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational."
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran's answer to Pakistan's message was that "Iran does not control the Houthis." Two Iranian sources, however, said Tehran told the Houthis last week to carry out attacks on Saudi Arabia, promising additional funding and weapons, and that several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders travelled to Yemen to help coordinate.
Iran's foreign ministry "completely rejects the claims regarding Iran's interference in the affairs of Yemen," it said, responding to an Arab League statement condemning "Iranian violations of Yemen's sovereignty."
The Houthis say their strikes answer Saudi escalation in Yemen.
What's Next
Islamabad is pushing a diplomatic fix first. A senior regional diplomat told Reuters Pakistan wants the Houthis restrained before Riyadh presses it to take a more active role: "It will pursue a diplomatic solution for now."
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have agreed their troops will not enter Yemen and that any response would be launched from Saudi territory, a Pakistani source said. A second Pakistani source said no decision has been made to join retaliatory strikes.
Regional officials see no sign President Donald Trump will lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports before Tehran reaches an agreement with Washington, a diplomat told Reuters, while Qatar is quietly exploring proposals to restart negotiations.
On the ground, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces say they are advancing in al-Jawf — a gateway to Sanaa — and have sent reinforcements to the western coast.
More
The Houthis launched a major offensive last week in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces aimed at pushing toward the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a critical waterway for Saudi oil exports, Al Jazeera reported. That is the stake for Americans: a second theatre of war threatening global energy supplies while Iran and the United States trade attacks on Gulf shipping.
One regional source said Saudi Arabia's military response will stay focused on the Houthis rather than Iran itself, and that Riyadh is not expected to press Washington to lift the blockade. "The question is how much pain Iran can absorb, and for how long," the source said. "Trump does not want a military solution. He wants to squeeze them through the blockade."
Poll
Should the United States get more involved in defending Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks?
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