As Yemen’s Houthis keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia with cross-border strikes, the military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are set to hold urgent talks on how to support the kingdom, even as Iraq tightened restrictions on Iranian flights under US pressure and a senior Iranian figure warned of retaliation.
The Houthis have launched strikes on the Saudi-backed government in Yemen and repeatedly fired into Saudi Arabia, rattling oil flows from the world’s largest energy exporter. The attacks are part of a wider Middle East war that erupted after US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February.
Fighting has carried on this week despite a push on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to restart diplomacy aimed at ending a conflict that spread rapidly to Lebanon and the Gulf in March before intensifying in Yemen in recent weeks.
With negotiations stuck and a lull in direct US-Iran exchanges, Washington shifted tactics, seeking to widen the impact of its financial sanctions by using “secondary sanctions” to target third-country companies that do business with Iranian firms.
That shift produced its first major ripple on Thursday, when Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the United Arab Emirates and Oman in response to new US sanctions.
In Iraq, the three other airports that operate flights to and from Iran joined Baghdad airport in suspending them, sources and state media said.
If the flight ban holds, it could further isolate Iran and deepen the country’s economic crisis, which is already compounded by a US blockade of its seaports.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, accused regional states of “alignment with America” for blocking flights.
“If Iran does not have the possibility to fly and receive airport services, then no country in the region will have this possibility either,” he said in a social media post.
Photo from Houthi Media Center shows fighters of Yemen’s Houthi fight against the Saudi-backed forces
Oil exports squeezed
The war launched by US President Donald Trump alongside Israel has killed thousands of people and shaken global trade and energy supplies, feeding inflationary pressures worldwide.
Although the US-Iran confrontation has flared and eased intermittently, Iranian allies have stepped up: Hezbollah has confronted Israel in Lebanon, and the Houthis have advanced in Yemen, driving a new humanitarian crisis.
Iran and its allies have significantly squeezed oil exports from Saudi Arabia, a US ally.
The Houthis have disrupted ship traffic at the mouth of the Red Sea, while Iran has effectively limited tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz — the route that carried 20% of the world’s oil exports before the war.
Yesterday, the Houthis said they had fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets. Saudi authorities said they intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Houthi fighters.
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Later, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, the kingdom’s highest religious authority, urged soldiers to be prepared to lay down their lives fighting the Houthis until the group is removed from power.
Against this backdrop, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey met under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which was signed in August.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in New York
The ministers condemned attacks targeting Mecca and other civilian sites and emphasised Saudi Arabia’s right to defend itself.
“The ministers also discussed arrangements for holding an urgent meeting of the chiefs of staff of the three countries to discuss ways to support Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which stipulates that an attack against anyone of the parties constitutes an attack against all parties,” a Saudi statement said.
Turkey’s defence ministry said Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu would travel to Saudi Arabia to meet his Saudi and Pakistani counterparts today.
Ankara has previously said it could help meet Riyadh’s military needs, particularly on technical issues. But officials have said any support at this stage would largely be bilateral and reflect the partners’ alliance because Turkey’s parliament has not yet ratified the joint defence agreement.
In New York, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters yesterday that Tehran had sent a proposal to the US via intermediaries under which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened if Iran’s conditions were met.
Under Iran’s proposal, hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon, within seven days.
The US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds and waive its oil sanctions, he said.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened on the last day,” Mr Araqchi said, adding that talks with the US on other issues, including Iran’s nuclear issue, would then start.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran was reviewing Washington’s response to its peace proposals.
Oil prices fell as traders assessed the prospects of a truce, even as the number of ships recorded transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to nine yesterday — about half the 10-day average.
