NEW YORK— Pakistan strongly condemned recent Houthi-led ballistic missile attacks targeting southern Saudi Arabia during an emergency United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on Monday. Islamabad reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to the kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under their bilateral mutual defense framework.
The emergency session followed a dangerous escalation in Yemen, where a government airstrike on Sanaa International Airport — aimed at blocking an Iranian aircraft — was met by retaliatory Houthi missile launches targeting Saudi territory.
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Reaffirming the Mutual Defence Pact
Speaking before the council, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, expressed full solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
The unequivocal diplomatic backing aligns with the landmark Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed between Islamabad and Riyadh in September 2025. The pact legally binds both countries to treat an external attack on one as an act of aggression against both.
“We express our full solidarity with the brotherly kingdom and reaffirm our steadfast support for its security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” — Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN
A Three-Pronged Peace Framework
As the 2022 UN-negotiated truce faced its most severe threat in years, Ambassador Jadoon outlined Pakistan’s diplomatic roadmap to resolve the crisis. This includes protecting Gulf security by defending Saudi Arabia’s borders and civilian centers from external missile and drone threats, recommitting to the independence and territorial unity of Yemen free from foreign proxy interference, and backing a comprehensive, UN-facilitated political process.
Islamabad pointed to successful mediation milestones, such as the May prisoner exchange of over 1,600 detainees, as proof that direct negotiation works.
Humanitarian Concerns & UN Detentions
Pakistan also voiced deep concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen, citing widespread food insecurity, economic collapse, and broken infrastructure.
Additionally, Islamabad strongly condemned the Houthis’ continued detention of UN staff and humanitarian aid workers, alongside the illegal seizure of UN property, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all detained personnel.
