• FO condemns militia actions against Saudi Arabia • Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure • Houthis block Red
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi speaking at FO’s weekly press briefing. SCREENSHOT
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned continued threats by Houthi militias against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, warning that it reserves the right under international law to use necessary force to protect its maritime interests from any hostile acts.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that threatens to intensify conflict in the region and disrupt global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
The Houthi armed forces said in a statement that they were declaring a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in a statement reiterated that any hostile acts against Pakistani-flagged vessels or against Pakistani maritime interests would be considered a serious threat to Pakistan’s national security and sovereign interests.
“In accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, Pakistan reserves the right to take all necessary measures, including the lawful use of force, in the exercise of self-defense to protect its maritime assets and national interests,” he noted.
The spokesperson said: “Pakistan unequivocally condemns the continued threats made by the Houthi militia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping in the Red Sea.”
Such actions “threaten regional security, undermine freedom of navigation, challenge the rules-based maritime order, and jeopardize the uninterrupted flow of global commerce.”
He said “threats against commercial shipping and trade 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 trade with the kingdom.”
The spokesperson also expressed concern over attempts to widen the regional conflict, saying “Pakistan is also deeply concerned about attempts to drag the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the Middle East conflict and reiterates its unwavering support for the security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and prosperity of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Calling for restraint and respect for international law, the statement said: “While remaining steadfast in its commitment to dialogue, diplomacy and regional de-escalation, Pakistan calls on all parties to respect international law and ensure the safety and security of international shipping.”
Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran fires on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after Iran’s allied Houthis in Yemen threatened a vital second 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 destined for China and India turned back on Tuesday.
In response to Trump’s threat against Iranian infrastructure, an Iranian military source cited by the Tasnim news agency said Tehran would retaliate against the region’s infrastructure.
“If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe… We have repeatedly said that the situation in the strait will not return to what it was before the war,” Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X.
Iran’s near-total blockade of the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz has fueled inflation around the world, and the new risk to shipping from the Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, has pushed oil prices to a nearly six-week high.
Brent crude futures rose to above $95 a barrel before returning to above $93 by mid-morning US time.
U.S. gasoline prices, which weighed on Trump’s poll numbers ahead of November’s midterm elections, have climbed back above $4 a gallon.
Millions of barrels of Saudi oil are shipped every day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. If shipments cannot pass south through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the southern Red Sea, they only have the northern route via the Suez Canal, which adds weeks to the journey and significantly increases freight and transit costs.
US strikes have spread in recent days from south to west and central Iran. Iran this week shelled vital water and energy desalination plants in Kuwait and targeted U.S. military assets there, in Bahrain and Jordan.
Iran has strengthened its army in anticipation of a breakdown of agreements by its adversaries, army commander-in-chief Major General Amir Hatami said. Iranian media also quoted parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy spokesman Hasan Qashqavi as saying Trump was in a “quagmire.”
An Iranian Health Ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 injured since the end of last month; the US military has said it never targets civilians.
The war resulted in the deaths of 18 American service members and injuries to more than 450 soldiers. Trump attended a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday to honor four U.S. service members killed in Iranian attacks on military bases in recent days – three in Jordan and one in Iraq.
“For me, this is one of the hardest things to do as president. But it must be done,” he said before heading to the ceremony.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said allowing Iran to exercise 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 is not serious about its negotiations, he said. “If they are serious, we are serious. If they are not, then we will do what is necessary to protect our interests and those of our allies,” he told reporters at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila.
In the 11th consecutive night of US bombing of Iran, residents of Tehran on Wednesday reported explosions coming from air defenses activated above the capital, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Three sites in Iran’s Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, were hit, an official told Iran’s official IRNA news agency, including a power station near the plant. Iranian media also said the United States targeted locations in Kabudarahang county in the central Hamadan province, without giving details.
The Iranian military 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 not immediately able to verify details of the attacks. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain have all reported intercepting Iranian attacks.
(Contributed by Reuters)
QUOTE
Threats to commercial shipping and trade with Saudi Arabia are unacceptable
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
