Pakistan ready to bomb Iran's proxy Houthis in first big test for Mecca Pact

Pakistan could activate the Mecca Pact to defend Saudi Arabia by conducting airstrikes in Yemen against Houthis, an Iranian proxy group. However, Islamabad might not extend that commitment to a potential Saudi military offensive in Yemen, putting the pact's promise of collective defence to its first real test.

In Short

• Pakistan signals it could invoke the Mecca Pact after Houthis hit Saudi Arabia
• Reports say Pakistani airstrikes could soon target Houthi positions inside Yemen
• Three-nation Mecca Pact, dubbed Islamic Nato, treats an attack on one as on all

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed last month, also known as the Mecca Defence Alliance, could get activated as Pakistan is preparing to conduct airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Pakistan's defence minister, Khwaja Asif, warned that the Agreement's collective defence clause could become operational if there was a "spillover" of the conflict in Yemen into Saudi territory.

Pakistani airstrikes on the Houthis, a proxy of Iran, could take place soon, Turkiye Today reported citing a source on Wednesday. The attacks would be made public shortly afterwards, it reported.

"One of the military priorities for the Pakistani attacks would be to clear the Houthis from Saadah along with other regions," a Pakistani source told Turkiye Today.

Khwaja Asif's comments came in the aftermath of a Houthi drone and missile strike targeting energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday which resulted in at least 73 injuries.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, other than Turkey, are part of the Mecca Pact. Both Islamabad and Riyadh had also signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in 2025, upon which the principles of the Mecca pact were built.

The Houthis, an Iranian-backed proxy group, have been battling to take power in the Gulf nation of Yemen. In 2015, Riyadh had mounted a failed intervention into Yemen to crush the Houthis, following which, both sides have exchanged missile and air strikes intermittently.

PAKISTAN BOUND BY PACT TO ACT AGAINST HOUTHIS: KHWAJA ASIF

Speaking to the Karachi-based Geo News, Asif, upon being questioned whether the Mecca Pact could be operationalised following the latest Houthis strikes, answered in the affirmative. He noted there was no "ambiguity" as the agreement stipulated that any act of aggression against one member would be treated as an attack against all.

"We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact, and we will honour them in case there is a need," Asif told Geo News.

Speaking to the Karachi-based news outlet, Geo News, Asif said the collective defence provisions of the agreement would be triggered by any unprovoked aggression against a member state or any spillover of the Yemen conflict into Saudi Arabia. BBC Urdu reported that

Earlier, while talking to reporters in Islamabad, Khawaja Asif had said that a Houthis attack on Saudi Arabia would be considered an attack on Pakistan, reported BBC Urdu.

"This is a joint defence pact. And unprovoked aggression or spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely, the pact will become operational; there should be no doubt in this," he said.

On the Geo News show 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath' on Tuesday night, host Shahzeb Khanzada mentioned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and asked Asif whether the strategic pact could be operationalised.

Asked whether Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had been in contact following the attacks, Asif said he was unaware of any such engagement. He nevertheless reiterated that Pakistan "is bound to react under the pact" because it provides for joint defence and collective action in the event of aggression.

Asif said the pact was not "aggressive in nature", adding, "If there is aggression against one member state, then all three member states will respond in kind." He also said Pakistan would have responded even if the pact were bilateral.

At the same time, Asif expressed hope that the situation would "come under control and die down", while warning the Houthis that attempts to "export their internal matters" could activate the pact’s collective defence provisions.

WILL HOUTHI ATTACKS ON SAUDI INTERESTS ACTIVATE THE MECCA PACT?

The Mecca Pact was signed between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on August 7, while Islamabad and Riyadh had a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in force since 2025.

Saudi's conflict with the Houthis, however, is much older than both these agreements. Riyadh had attempted but failed to crush the Iranian-backed Islamist extremist group way back in 2015, sparking off a civil war in Yemen.

Since then, both the Houthis and the Saudis have been exchanging strikes sporadically. And following the outbreak of the US-Iran war in February this year (in the course of which the Saudis became collateral damage), the Houthis joined the conflict. Since then, dozens of drones and missiles have hammered Saudi infrastructure.

So, going by Khwaja Asif's statements, will Pakistan activate the Mecca Pact and defend their Gulf state ally?

Omar Karim, a Middle East expert at the University of Birmingham in the UK and an associate fellow at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, told BBC Urdu that given the "significant threat" Riyadh is facing from Houthi strikes, "a situation can arise in which both the Mecca Agreement and the Pakistan-Saudi Mutual Defence Agreement (MSDA) could be activated."

Karim added that Islamabad already has a military presence on the ground to "join any operation to defend Saudi Arabia", and given Asif's statements, Islamabad has the "political will" to do so.

That being said, should Pakistan be in favour of activating the Mecca Pact to defend Saudi Arabia, it would be purely defensive in nature.

Mehran Kamrafa, a professor at Georgetown University, Qatar and director of the research unit at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies, told BBC Urdu, that there were "indications" that, in a repeat of 2015, Riyadh was preparing for another ground intrusion into Yemen, where the Houthis are based in.

"Yemen has been a test for the Mecca agreement from the beginning to see whether Pakistani and Turkish soldiers are ready to fight on the Yemeni front," Kamrafa was quoted as saying by BBC Urdu. "And what we are seeing is a very clear statement from the Pakistani defence minister, which shows that Pakistan will not be involved in an attack on Yemen by Saudi Arabia that could be considered an act of aggression."

REAL TEST OF MECCA PACT IF SAUDI ARABIA ATTACKS HOUTHIS

Note, Asif had stated that while Pakistan was ready to defend Riyadh, he had also told Geo News that being "non-state actors", the Houthis were best dealt with by Yemeni authorities themselves.

Against this backdrop, Kamrafa told BBC Urduu that Islamabad was very cautiously determining its participation under the Mecca Agreement in the context of what the agreement actually means.

"This means that if Saudi Arabia attacks or takes military action in Yemen, as in 2015, the Pakistani army, and consequently the Turkish army, will not be involved," Kamrafa was quoted as saying. "This is an unambiguous declaration to clearly distance Pakistan from any potential offensive action in Yemen," he added.

As such, while Islamabad has stated its willingness to activate the Mecca Pact and rush to Saudi Arabia's aid, it, alongside Turkey, may baulk at any proposal from Riyadh to mount an incursion into Yemen. That, if it ever happens, will be the true test of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

- Ends