ISLAMABAD – In a unified stance, Pakistan and the United States criticized the recent actions of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have taken steps to disrupt commercial vessels in the Red Sea by declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concerns over Iran’s role in empowering the Houthis to initiate the blockade but remains hopeful for a peaceful resolution.
Although heavily supported by Iran, the Houthis operate with a degree of autonomy from Iran’s leadership, which differentiates them from other factions like Hezbollah and various militias in Iraq that maintain direct ties to Iran’s supreme authority.
Rubio, speaking at a regional summit in the Philippines, highlighted the critical nature of free passage through the Red Sea, drawing parallels to the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. continues to scrutinize developments closely and has maintained frequent discussions with Saudi Arabia about looming threats.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil transportation, accounting for about 20% of the global oil trade, has faced intermittent closures since February 28 due to military escalations involving the U.S. and Israel.
“It’s not a new threat, but it’s one that’s manifested itself in the past, but at the gist of that issue is the fact that, again, Iran is in the middle of it. Talking about the troublemaker in the region, it’s Iran,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the Houthi threats and said they violate established principles of international law.
The Houthis opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has relied on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
Three Houthi officials said the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
A news agency in Yemen run by the Houthis, SABA, said Tuesday that six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after they received warnings from the rebel group. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the claim but tracking data from MarineTraffic.com showed at least three tankers appeared to make U-turns on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned that the actions “threaten regional security, undermine freedom of navigation, challenge the rules-based maritime order and jeopardize uninterrupted flow of global commerce.”
The Foreign Ministry in Islamabad said Pakistan was “particularly concerned by reports of threats directed against vessels engaged in lawful commercial trade with the Kingdom.”
The ministry warned that “any hostile act against Pakistani-flagged vessels or Pakistani maritime interests will be regarded as a grave threat to Pakistan’s national security and sovereign interests.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are longtime allies, and the kingdom is one of Pakistan’s largest oil suppliers.
Last year, the two countries signed a mutual defense pact defining an attack on either nation as an attack on both. The agreement followed Israeli attacks on the neighboring Gulf state of Qatar. Pakistan has also repeatedly condemned Iranian attacks on Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan brokered an interim peace deal between the U.S. and Iran in June and is currently mediating between the two sides after they resumed attacks on each other earlier this month.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have maintained close defense ties for decades, in part because of Islamabad’s longstanding commitment to help defend Islam’s holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, in the kingdom. Pakistani troops were first deployed to Saudi Arabia in the late 1960s amid concerns over the war in Yemen involving Egypt.
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Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Michelle Price in Manila contributed to this report.
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