Mohammed al-Bukhaiti warned that the Houthis would strike Turkey and Pakistan if they intervene for Riyadh, as the Mecca defense pact faces its first real test.
A senior Houthi official has warned Turkey and Pakistan against backing Saudi Arabia in its war with the group, saying both countries would be attacked if they intervene.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, made the remarks in an interview with the Iraqi channel iNews. "We will strike them with an iron fist," he said. "Just as we are disciplining Saudi Arabia today, we will discipline them too."
Al-Bukhaiti warned last week that any direct Turkish or Pakistani intervention on Saudi Arabia's behalf would carry a heavy price.
The threat targets the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, which created a framework for mutual defense cooperation. The pact has not yet been invoked. A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that Riyadh had not formally requested Ankara's assistance under it.
Regional analysts say Turkey is reluctant to confront the Houthis and would prefer to use its ties with both Riyadh and Tehran to defuse the crisis, while supplying Saudi Arabia with defensive equipment. Turkey has commercial, military and energy supply lines running through the Red Sea that an escalation could disrupt, and it already has a naval presence in the area, with warships guarding an energy exploration vessel off Somalia and participation in a UN-backed anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. (Read More)
