Houthi attacks test Saudi Arabia’s defense pact — South China Morning Post
In Saudi Arabia, attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on the kingdom’s energy infrastructure and military facilities have become the first test of the defense agreement that Riyadh signed with Pakistan and Turkey in August. According to the South China Morning Post, this assessment was made by Chinese analysts.
On Friday, military leaders of the three states participating in the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement gathered urgently in Riyadh. According to the Saudi Press Agency, they reaffirmed their commitment to collective defense and discussed intelligence sharing, military coordination and the integration of capabilities to strengthen deterrence and joint protection.
Terms of assistance are not defined
Under the pact, an armed attack on one of the three countries must be treated as an attack on all participants, following a principle similar to NATO’s Article 5. At the same time, the agreement does not specify under what circumstances military intervention is required or what form allies’ assistance would take.
Zhang Chuchu, deputy director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, believes that Turkey and Pakistan are unlikely to directly intervene in Saudi Arabia’s confrontation with the Houthis. In her view, the pact’s participants may deepen cooperation in intelligence sharing, military-technical affairs, air defense and maritime security.
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Li Weijian, a researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that the agreement’s symbolic significance currently exceeds its practical significance. He suggested that Ankara and Islamabad could provide political support, intelligence or defensive assistance, as well as facilitate negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
China’s position
According to Li’s assessment, Beijing supports greater responsibility by countries in the region for their own security and does not want the conflict to expand further. Reuters, citing Iranian sources, previously reported that China had privately asked Iran to help restrain the Houthis after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing.
Li also noted that disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could harm China’s energy and transport interests as well as the global economy. The publication describes the Houthis as backed by Iran; in recent weeks, they have seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast from forces supporting Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and effectively taken control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia responded with airstrikes.
