Pakistan PM Tells UN Houthi Attacks on Mecca or Medina Would Cross a “Red Line”
Pakistan’s prime minister used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday to condemn Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, warning that any threat to the sanctity of Mecca and Medina would cross a “red line that must never be crossed.”
Speaking in New York, Shehbaz Sharif called the recent attacks “deplorable” and said an assault that Riyadh says targeted Mecca had “outraged Muslims across the globe.” The Iran-aligned Houthi movement has dismissed the accusation as a “heinous lie.”
The dispute has become a test for a new trilateral security arrangement signed last month by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, formally known as the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. Under the pact, an attack on one member is to be treated as an attack on all. So far, however, Islamabad and Ankara have avoided direct involvement in Riyadh’s campaign against the Houthis, reflecting the delicate balance each capital faces between collective defense commitments and broader regional risks.
On Friday, the military chiefs of the three countries met in Riyadh to discuss expanded intelligence sharing and military coordination, according to the Pakistani military. The commanders reviewed the security situation and threats facing Saudi Arabia, affirmed their commitment to collective defense, and pledged to translate the Mecca agreement’s commitments into practical cooperation.
What support Turkey and Pakistan might ultimately provide remains unclear. In a written interview published Friday by Newsweek, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said assistance could include “intelligence, logistics or ammunition, with more extensive military assistance possible depending on the scale of the threat.”
Sharif’s U.N. speech also touched on the wider regional war, including the U.S.-Israeli war launched against Iran in late February, and Pakistan’s role as a co-mediator. Those efforts led to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Washington and Tehran and intended to help end the conflict. The accord has since unraveled, even as regional countries press for a conclusive end to a war that has triggered a global energy crisis and deepened tensions across the Middle East.
“Yet amid the roar of missiles, drones and guns, the voice for diplomacy must echo even louder and stronger,” Sharif said.
He described the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blockaded, and the Bab al-Mandeb waterway, now largely under Houthi control, as “arteries of the global economy” that should remain free and safe. The warning carries weight for global shipping and energy markets: both chokepoints sit along critical trade routes, and continued disruption there could raise insurance, freight and fuel costs far beyond the region.
The Pakistani prime minister also denounced what he called Israel’s “genocidal agenda” in Palestine and condemned “Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Syria.” His remarks echoed those made earlier in the day by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in his own U.N. General Assembly address.
Closer to home, Sharif focused on tensions with Pakistan’s neighbors. Criticizing India, he accused New Delhi of weaponizing the Indus waters, which the two countries have jointly managed for more than six decades. Both nations rely heavily on the Himalayan river network. Sharif warned that “any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of the waters will be treated as an act of war.”
He also called for what he described as a “just and fair solution” to the Kashmir dispute, which both Pakistan and India claim in full. Sharif alleged that there have been attempts to “alter the legal status” of Kashmir through demographic engineering.
Another pressing concern for Islamabad is the threat posed by Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP), often called the Pakistani Taliban. Sharif said such groups operate from “sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, with the aim of destabilizing Pakistan,” and insisted that attacks launched from Afghan territory “must come to a grinding halt.” His comments came as the latest cross-border fighting left several Afghan Taliban fighters dead on Friday.