Pakistan vows force against Houthi maritime threats

• FO condemns militia's actions against Saudi Arabia • Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure • Houthis block Red

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned continued threats by Houthi militia against commercial shipping in Red Sea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, warning that it reserved the right under international law to use necessary force to protect its maritime interests from any hostile acts.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that threatens to escalate the conflict in the region and disrupt global energy supply and trade beyond the Gulf.

The Houthis' armed forces, in a statement, said they were declaring a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, in a statement, reaffirmed that any hostile act against Pakistani-flagged vessels or Pakistani maritime interests would be regarded as a grave threat to Pakistan's national security and sovereign interests.

"Consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, Pakistan reserves its right to take all necessary measures, including lawful use of force, in the exercise of self-defence to protect its maritime assets and national interests," he remarked.

The spokesperson said, "Pakistan unequivocally condemns the continued threats issued by the Houthi militia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping in the Red Sea."

It said such actions "threaten regional security, undermine freedom of navigation, challenge the rules-based maritime order and jeopardise uninterrupted flow of global commerce".

He said, "threats against commercial shipping and trading with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are unacceptable and violate established principles of international law" and added that Pakistan was "particularly concerned by reports of threats directed against vessels engaged in lawful commercial trade with the kingdom".

The spokesperson also expressed concern over attempts to widen the regional conflict, saying "Pakistan is also deeply concerned over attempts to drag the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the conflict in the Middle East and reiterates its unwavering support for the security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and prosperity of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

Calling for restraint and adherence to international law, the statement said, "While remaining steadfast in its commitment to dialogue, diplomacy and regional de-escalation, Pakistan calls upon all parties to respect international law and ensure the safety and security of international maritime shipping."

 

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen threatened a second vital energy route.

Five tankers changed course in the Red Sea to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, a day after the Houthis' threat to block Saudi oil exports highlighted a new risk to global oil supplies from the escalating conflict. Three tankers loaded with Saudi oil for China and India made U-turns on Tuesday.

In response to Trump's threat to Iran's infrastructure, an Iranian military source cited by Tasnim news agency said Tehran would retaliate against infrastructure in the region.

"If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe... We have said many times that the situation in the strait will not return to the way it was before the war," Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X.

Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf has stoked inflation around the world, and the new risk to shipping from the Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, pushed oil prices to a near six-week high.

Brent crude futures hit more than $95 a barrel before easing back to nearer $93 by midmorning US time.

US gasoline prices, which have weighed on Trump's poll ratings ahead of midterm elections in November, have climbed back over $4 a gallon.

Millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day have been heading to the kingdom's Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. If shipments cannot pass through the Red Sea's southern Bab el-Mandeb Strait, they have only the northern route out via the Suez Canal, which adds weeks to the journey and significantly raises freight and transit costs.

US strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran in recent days. Iran has pounded vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait this week and targeted US military assets there, in Bahrain and in Jordan.

Iran strengthened its military in anticipation that its adversaries would break agreements, Army Commander-in-Chief Major General Amir Hatami said. Iranian media also cited parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesperson Hasan Qashqavi as saying Trump was in a "quagmire".

An Iranian health ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late last month; the US military has said it never targets civilians.

The war has led to the deaths of 18 US service members and injured more than 450 troops. Trump attended a ceremony on Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for four US service members killed in Iranian attacks on military bases over the last few days - three in Jordan and one in Iraq.

"For me it's one of the hardest things to do as a president. But it has to be done," he said before leaving for the ceremony.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said allowing Iran to have such control would set a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asia, where many countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

Iran was not serious about talks, he said. "If they're serious, we're serious. If they're not, then we will do what's necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies," he told reporters at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila.

In the 11th straight night of US bombing of Iran, Tehran residents reported explosions in the early hours of Wednesday from air defences activated over the capital, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.

Three locations in Iran's Bushehr province, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, were hit, an official told Iran's state news agency IRNA, including an electricity post close to the plant. Iranian media also said the US targeted locations in Kabudarahang county in the central Hamadan province, giving no details.

Iran's army said it struck accommodation and storage facilities at the US Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan, targeted warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, and also targeted Camp Doha in Kuwait.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify details of the attacks. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain all said they had intercepted Iranian attacks.

(With input from Reuters)

 

 

QUOTE

Threats against commercial shipping and trading with KSA are unacceptable

Foreign Office