Agencies | Tehran/ Islamabad:
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate telephone conversations on Thursday night with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, as a sharp escalation in the Houthi-Saudi conflict raised fresh diplomatic and security challenges for Islamabad.
The calls came after Iran-backed Houthi fighters seized the strategic Yemeni port city of Mocha and advanced towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, intensifying concerns over one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes. The Houthis have also moved towards nearby Red Sea islands, including Mayyun, strengthening their position around the strategic waterway.
The escalation followed heavy Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia earlier in the week. Saudi authorities and the Saudi-led coalition said the attacks wounded dozens of people and targeted energy infrastructure in several cities.
The Houthi advance has heightened concerns over the security of Saudi Arabia’s oil export routes, particularly as the Strait of Hormuz remains under severe pressure amid the wider regional conflict. Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel as markets assessed the possibility of simultaneous disruption around Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.
The latest contacts have placed Pakistan in a difficult position. Islamabad maintains close strategic and defence ties with Saudi Arabia, while also retaining important diplomatic and security channels with Iran.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif earlier warned that the country’s mutual defence arrangements with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye could be activated if the conflict spread further into Saudi territory.
However, Pakistan has also signalled a preference for diplomacy rather than direct military involvement.
At a weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan declined to confirm reports that Islamabad had conveyed a Saudi warning to Tehran to restrain the Houthis, describing the reports as unsubstantiated.
He also dismissed reports that Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan to launch strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen, calling such a possibility hypothetical.
Asked whether Pakistan was engaging with the Houthis through Iran, however, Khan did not rule out such contacts.
“Pakistan would continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy for peace and stability in the broader region,” he said.
Former Pakistani foreign secretary Jauhar Saleem said Islamabad’s carefully measured language reflected the complexity of the situation, arguing that what diplomats deliberately leave unsaid can be as significant as their public statements.
Field Marshal Asim Munir has travelled to Tehran several times since April, with his most recent visit coming last month.
An Iranian source familiar with the diplomatic contacts told Al Jazeera that telephone diplomacy between Islamabad and Tehran had intensified following the latest escalation.
The source claimed that there had been several conversations between Munir and Araghchi over the past one to two weeks, although only some of those contacts had been publicly acknowledged.
Pakistan has not officially commented on the reported private communications. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has also maintained separate contacts with his Saudi and Turkish counterparts in recent days.
Analysts say Pakistan’s established ties with both Riyadh and Tehran could allow Islamabad to play a mediating role, although the stakes are considerably higher given its defence commitments to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has faced similar pressure before. In 2015, its Parliament rejected a Saudi request for troops, ships and aircraft to participate in the Yemen conflict, with lawmakers calling for neutrality so Islamabad could retain the ability to pursue a diplomatic solution.
The current crisis has revived that dilemma, particularly as Saudi Arabia faces a more direct threat from Houthi attacks. Earlier this year, when Iran directly targeted Saudi Arabia, Pakistan deployed forces to the kingdom without directly entering the conflict.
Iranian regional security analyst Javad Heiran-Nia said this demonstrated that the mutual-defence principle between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia did not necessarily mean automatic military intervention whenever one partner came under attack.
The precise content of Munir’s conversation with Araghchi remains unclear. However, analysts say Iran’s relationship with the Houthis could make Tehran an important channel for de-escalation.
Heiran-Nia said Pakistan had been acting as a communication channel between Saudi Arabia and Iran and suggested that Islamabad could seek to persuade Tehran to restrain its Houthi allies.
At the same time, he cautioned that Iranian influence over the Houthis, while significant, was not absolute.
The Houthis have their own political and military calculations, even though their strategic interests frequently align with Tehran.
Iranian officials have continued to express support for the Houthis amid the latest escalation, underscoring the broader regional dimensions of the conflict.
Rising pressure on Pakistan
Former Pakistani ambassador to Iran Asif Durrani said the central issue under the country’s defence arrangements with Saudi Arabia was the perception of a threat and the manner in which member states respond when a partner seeks assistance.
He said Pakistan had the capacity to support Saudi Arabia in countering the Houthi threat.
Other analysts, however, argue that Riyadh may currently benefit more from Pakistani diplomacy than direct military intervention.
Jauhar Saleem said Saudi Arabia did not necessarily need Pakistan to fight its battles at this stage and that Islamabad could provide greater assistance by helping prevent a wider regional war.
Pakistan’s relationships with Gulf states and its communication channels with Tehran could make it a potentially useful intermediary.
Umer Karim, an analyst at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, said the cost of inaction could increase if attacks on Saudi territory and critical infrastructure continued.
The latest Houthi advances have therefore placed Pakistan at the centre of a difficult diplomatic equation—one that requires it to honour its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia while preserving its channels with Iran and avoiding direct involvement in another regional conflict.
With the Houthis now holding Mocha and advancing towards key positions around Bab al-Mandeb, the crisis is no longer confined to Yemen’s battlefield. It is increasingly becoming a test of regional alliances, maritime security and Pakistan’s ability to use diplomacy to contain a conflict that threatens to draw in more countries.
