Pakistan on Wednesday “unequivocally” condemned the continued threats issued by the Houthi militia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, warning that such actions jeopardise global commerce and regional security, in a statement released by the Foreign Office (FO).
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that threatens to escalate the conflict in the region and disrupt global energy supply and trade beyond the Gulf.
The Houthis’ armed forces, in a statement, said they were declaring “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately”. They said the decision was in response to what they called “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen by the Saudis.
According to the FO, “Pakistan unequivocally condemns the continued threats issued by the Houthi militia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping in the Red Sea”.
It said such actions “threaten regional security, undermine freedom of navigation, challenge the rules-based maritime order and jeopardise uninterrupted flow of global commerce.”
The FO said, “threats against commercial shipping and trading with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are unacceptable and violate established principles of international law.”
It added that Pakistan was “particularly concerned by reports of threats directed against vessels engaged in lawful commercial trade with the Kingdom.”
Reaffirming its position on protecting its maritime interests, the FO said, “Pakistan reaffirms that any hostile act against Pakistani-flagged vessels or Pakistani maritime interests will be regarded as a grave threat to Pakistan’s national security and sovereign interests.”
