Regional
Pakistan worries about being drawn into US-Iran conflict after Houthis attack Saudi Arabia
Attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis this week have frustrated Pakistan and threaten to draw Islamabad into the conflict, complicating any future role it may have as a mediator between the United States and Iran, Reuters reported.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan, which helped broker an interim deal last month in the war between Washington and Tehran, signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year and thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been deployed to the kingdom, alongside a squadron of fighter jets.
Pakistan had already voiced anger about Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but regional analysts and officials said the attacks this week had pushed Islamabad’s frustration with Iran to a new level as they raised the prospect of a new Saudi-Houthi conflict.
The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday. The cross-border fire pierced a four-year truce but has so far been contained to a single incident.
“Our top civil and military leaders have conveyed to Iran at the highest level that the attacks on Saudi Arabia are attacks on Pakistan,” a Pakistani official told Reuters. “It is our red line.”
The source and other Pakistani officials interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly.
“Pakistan wasn’t anticipating that the tensions will rise so suddenly,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, a Pakistani security analyst.
Pakistan’s frustration appears rooted in growing concerns that Houthi involvement may be more likely to draw Pakistan into the conflict than the Iranian missile strikes were earlier this year. Pakistani soldiers are deployed near the Saudi border with Yemen, two Pakistani officials said, increasing their direct exposure.
There are also concerns in Islamabad that a Houthi-led escalation could disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, an important trade route that Pakistan and many other countries depend on. A widening conflict there could be more difficult to contain and could target Saudi interests in a way that forces Pakistan to intervene militarily under the terms of its mutual defence pact.
Ghulam Mustafa, a retired Pakistani general, said that for now “Pakistan’s top leaders are still engaged in appeasing all stakeholders.” But he cautioned that this could change “if the Houthis expand the radius of their attacks in Saudi Arabia.”
MOUNTING CONCERNS
This week’s tensions between Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia have fueled broader concerns in Islamabad about Iran.
Two Pakistani government officials said growing divisions within the Iranian leadership have been watched with concern in Islamabad.
The views and objectives of Iran’s political leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, increasingly differ from those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pakistani officials said.
“The military seems to be dominating the decision making in Iran,” said Muhammad Ali, a Pakistani defence analyst, adding that this is increasingly “being recognised in Islamabad.”
The recent escalation contributed to the postponement of a visit by an Iranian delegation to Islamabad earlier this week that had not been announced publicly, two Pakistani officials said.
The delegation, led by Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, arrived in Islamabad two days later than planned, on Wednesday, the officials said, with the talks expected to include conversations about the U.S.-Iran deal.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry and the country’s military media wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a briefing on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan calls “on all parties to exercise maximum restraint” and that “there is no alternative to sustained engagement, dialogue, and diplomacy.”
PAKISTANI DOUBLE ROLE
As Pakistan seeks a more prominent regional role, analysts say it will also increasingly face the challenges that come with such exposure.
When Pakistan’s defence deal with Saudi Arabia was announced last September, it was widely seen as a sign that Gulf Arab states were growing increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as a security guarantor and looking to Pakistan and other countries as a possible alternative.
But Pakistan is deeply reliant on Middle Eastern countries for oil and gas. The tensions around the Strait of Hormuz disrupted Pakistan’s supply routes, and the government imposed emergency measures including early business closures to prevent a fuel shortage.
Mediating between the U.S. and Iran has been at least as much about reopening these supply routes as it has been about diplomatic influence, according to analysts and Pakistani officials.
“Yes, there is frustration, but that doesn’t mean that we are abandoning this project,” one official said, referring to the mediation. “We have invested a lot in it, and we have an interest in keeping it afloat.”
Pakistan has rarely appeared closer to having to choose a side than this week, however.
“It’s in everyone’s best interest for the war to end,” said a different Pakistani source aware of the mediation. “But if Saudi calls us in, we will stand by them and there is no doubt about that.”
Regional
Iran says new sanctions threatened by ‘desperate’ US will fail
While Iran remains defiant, President Masoud Pezeshkian has also called for a diplomatic solution.
Iran’s foreign minister dismissed the threat of new US sanctions as a sign of desperation on Sunday and said the expected new measures would fail to defeat Tehran, Reuters reported.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, has threatened to impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Iran’s economy is already under huge pressure from international sanctions, its infrastructure has been hit repeatedly and thousands of people have been killed in airstrikes on the Islamic Republic since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
But Tehran remains defiant after nearly six months of war and has brought shipping to a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, refusing to allow unauthorized oil tankers to transit a waterway that is vital for global oil shipments. The effective blockade of the strait has pushed up global oil prices.
Describing what he said were “repetitive scenarios”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a video posted on Telegram: “The fact that they (US leaders) have moved on from military operations … to bring up the same old plans shows that they are desperate.”
He said Washington must speak to Iran respectfully to find “a solution based on justice and honour.”
“We have never been afraid. All of their actions – whether blockades or other military moves they have made – have failed, and this new issue of theirs will fail as well,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides “any type of lifeline to Iran” and Bessent has urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. China has urged diplomacy.
Iran said Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, would visit Tehran on Monday as part of efforts to restore peace and security in the region, but gave few details.
Pakistan has been mediating in the conflict and a Pakistani government source said Munir would touch on recent developments including the U.S. threat of new sanctions.
Trump said on Friday that Washington was observing “what happens” in the conflict, read the report.
“They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump said of Iran.
US attacks have severely diminished Iran’s economy and devastated its navy and air force, but Tehran maintains enough missile and drone capability to impede oil tanker traffic and attack regional rivals.
Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Saturday that Tehran had received “numerous messages” from neighbouring countries about establishing new regional security arrangements and economic cooperation.
Qalibaf did not say which countries he was referring to. He accused the US of endangering the security of its allies in the region for the sake of Israel, adding that an independent, “homegrown” regional order would deliver peace and security.
Trump has yet to achieve objectives he set at the start of the war such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme — the state of which remains uncertain given that U.N. inspectors have been shut out since 2025 — and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
While Iran remains defiant, President Masoud Pezeshkian has also called for a diplomatic solution.
“It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America, contrary to all regulations, attacked our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and is hated in the world,” the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying on Friday.
Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir will visit Tehran on Monday to continue efforts to bring peace and security to the region, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday, according to a statement by the ministry.
Pakistan has taken on a mediator role in negotiations between Iran and the U.S. aimed at ending the war which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Two Pakistani government sources confirmed Munir’s visit to Reuters. The first source said that Iran and Pakistan were in direct contact.
A second source said the talks would also address recent developments in the conflict, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tougher sanctions on Iran.
“He (Munir) will discuss peace under Islamabad’s MoU, Trump’s warning and the situation after the Pakistan-Turkey-Saudi Arab Agreement and Houthi issues with Iranian leaders,” the source said.
The visit comes amid heightened tensions as Iran threatens a military response to U.S. plans for sanctions that could further put a strain on the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy.
It will coincide with a Monday announcement on details related to the planned sanctions which U.S. officials have said would be “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Trump had warned of economic consequences against any country that provided “any type of lifeline to Iran” as he seeks to isolate the Islamic Republic.
Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions.
Regional
Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz
Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.
Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.
Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials.
The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference.
Iraq has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area.
Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.
Baghdad is working to expand its exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and also to begin exporting oil through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.
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