A long-dormant conflict has resurfaced after Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen accused each other of carrying out attacks over the weekend. The renewed hostilities have also drawn attention to Pakistan, which signed a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia last year and has since increased its military presence in the Kingdom. This has fuelled speculation over whether Islamabad, already facing security challenges in Balochistan and along its border with Afghanistan, could become involved in a renewed Saudi-Houthi conflict.
The latest escalation threatens to open another front in the Middle East at a time when the renewed US-Iran confrontation has already heightened regional tensions. On Sunday, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. According to Axios, the strike, reportedly backed by US President Donald Trump, was intended to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.
Saudi Arabia and Houthis exchange strikes
The Mahan Air flight was carrying a Houthi delegation returning from Iran after attending the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Saudi Arabia reportedly suspected that the aircraft could have been transporting weapons or Iranian military personnel to Yemen. The United States has long alleged that Mahan Air has links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The aircraft was ultimately diverted and landed at Hodeidah Airport, which remains under Houthi control.
The Houthis currently control Yemen's capital, Sanaa, along with much of northern Yemen, including the strategic port city of Hodeidah. The internationally recognised Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, operates primarily from Aden in the south, effectively leaving the country divided.
Tensions had been building for nearly two weeks before the latest exchange. Earlier this month, an Iranian aircraft landed in Sanaa to transport a Houthi delegation to Iran for Khamenei's funeral, marking what was reportedly the first direct flight from Iran to Sanaa in nearly a decade.
The Houthis claimed Saudi fighter jets had attempted unsuccessfully to prevent that flight from landing.
The July 12 strike on Sanaa airport significantly escalated the situation. In response, the Houthis launched missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia, targeting Abha International Airport and warning airlines to avoid Saudi airspace.
The exchange effectively ended a truce that had largely held since 2022, surviving even earlier tensions generated by the US-Iran conflict.
Yemen's civil war began in 2014 after the Houthis seized control of much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. Saudi Arabia subsequently led a military coalition supporting the internationally recognised government before a United Nations-brokered truce halted large-scale fighting in 2022.
Will Pakistan become involved?
The renewed hostilities have once again raised questions about whether Pakistan would support Saudi Arabia if the Kingdom comes under sustained attack.
In September last year, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a NATO-style mutual defence agreement. Although the full details remain confidential, one key provision reportedly states that an attack on either country would be treated as an attack on both.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also indicated that Islamabad's nuclear programme would be made available to Saudi Arabia under the agreement. Several defence analysts have suggested that Saudi Arabia has historically played a role in supporting Pakistan's nuclear programme, reinforcing the close strategic ties between the two countries.
Following Iranian strikes on Saudi energy facilities earlier this year, both countries held multiple discussions regarding the defence pact. However, Pakistan avoided direct involvement in the regional conflict while simultaneously escalating tensions with Afghanistan.
A ceasefire had been in place between Pakistan and Afghanistan since November 2025. Despite that, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul shortly after the US-Iran conflict escalated on February 28. Some observers viewed the renewed confrontation with Afghanistan as a way for Pakistan to avoid becoming directly involved under its defence commitments to Saudi Arabia.
A difficult balancing act
The latest crisis presents Pakistan with another strategic dilemma.
Unlike Saudi Arabia, Pakistan has never officially deployed combat forces against the Houthis or participated directly in Yemen's civil war.
Since the 1970s, Pakistan has periodically trained more than 8,000 Saudi military personnel. Pakistani troops were also deployed to Saudi Arabia during the 1960s amid tensions linked to Egypt's intervention in Yemen.
Relations between Islamabad and Riyadh were strained in 2015 after Pakistan declined Saudi Arabia's request to contribute troops to the Saudi-led military campaign against the Houthis.
Today, Pakistan faces mounting internal security challenges, including insurgent attacks in Balochistan, protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and persistent tensions along the Afghan border.
At present, approximately 8,000 Pakistani troops, 16 fighter aircraft—primarily JF-17 fighter jets—and a Chinese-made air defence system are stationed in Saudi Arabia under the bilateral defence arrangement. These deployments were made in May after regional tensions had temporarily eased.
The situation remains fluid. So far, Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have exchanged only one round of strikes. However, if the Houthis intensify their attacks on Saudi territory, Pakistan could face growing pressure to honour its defence commitments to Riyadh.
