Houthi Attacks Spark Saudi-Pak-Turk Defense Pact Amid Regional Instability
The Houthi movement in Yemen has launched a series of attacks against Saudi Arabia, including ballistic missile strikes on oil tankers and military bases. The attacks have prompted Saudi Arabia to formalize a mutual defense alliance with Pakistan and Turkey, which transforms decades of informal security ties into a collective-defense arrangement.
The escalation represents the armed group's most sustained push against Saudi Arabia since mid-2022, after sitting out most of the five-month U.S.-Iran war. The Houthi campaign has been accelerating through the first week of August, with attacks on at least two Saudi oil tankers, a large-scale military operation targeting government forces in Yemen, and an unmanned aerial vehicle strike against an Aramco oil refinery.
The Houthis have framed their maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia as a legitimate response to Saudi-led restrictions on Yemen. However, this framing exists in sharp tension with documented Houthi dependence on Iranian military support and direct IRGC supervision of operations.