Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Convene Under Joint Defence Pact as Houthi Strikes Intensify

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have moved to activate a joint defence arrangement in response to a wave of missile and drone attacks by Yemen's Houthi movement, even as Iran's president publicly sought to distance Tehran from its Houthi allies.

The three countries' foreign ministers met under the framework of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which provides that an attack on any one party is treated as an attack on all. In a statement, the ministers condemned strikes targeting Mecca and other civilian sites and affirmed Saudi Arabia's right to self-defence. They also discussed arrangements for an urgent meeting of the three countries' chiefs of staff to examine ways of supporting the kingdom.

The Houthis said they launched dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets on Thursday. Saudi authorities said they intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the group. Emergency alerts were earlier issued for areas including Mecca, Jeddah and Yanbu, the main Saudi Red Sea oil port.

Saudi Arabia's top religious authority called on the kingdom's soldiers to be prepared to give their lives in the fight against the Houthis until the group is removed from power, according to a statement carried by the state news agency.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired into Saudi Arabia and struck at the Saudi-backed government in Yemen, disrupting oil flows from the world's largest energy exporter. The wider conflict began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February and has since drawn in Iranian-aligned groups across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking in a television interview in the United States a day after addressing the UN General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Houthis are responsible for their own actions. His remarks came during a pause in direct fighting between Washington and Tehran and a brief diplomatic opening in New York, with Qatar acting as intermediary.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told reporters that Tehran had conveyed a proposal to the United States through intermediaries. Under the plan, hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon, within seven days; the United States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian funds and waive oil sanctions; and the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened on the final day. Talks on other issues, including Iran's nuclear programme, would follow, he said. A senior Iranian official said Tehran was reviewing Washington's response to its proposals.

The war has killed thousands of people and disrupted global energy supplies, pushing oil prices higher. While the United States and Iran have largely stepped back from direct combat, Iranian allies remain engaged across the region. The Houthis have disrupted shipping at the mouth of the Red Sea, while Iran has effectively limited tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, previously the conduit for about a fifth of the world's oil exports. An attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq also temporarily put Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline out of service.

Security experts have long debated the extent of Iran's direct influence over the Houthis, a Shi'ite Islamist movement that grew from a local insurgency into a powerful armed force controlling much of northern Yemen. Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources have said the Houthis' advance down Yemen's Red Sea coast was carried out with direct guidance from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

With the battlefield largely stalemated, Washington has shifted tactics, extending the reach of its financial sanctions to target companies in third countries that do business with Iranian firms. Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the UAE and Oman on Thursday in response to the new US sanctions — the first major effect of the policy shift. A sustained flight ban could deepen Iran's isolation and worsen an economic crisis already compounded by the US blockade of its ports. "We are living in an open-air prison," a retired teacher in Tehran said by text message, speaking on condition of anonymity.