New York (GNP): Pakistan has called for an immediate and unconditional end to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. The call came on Thursday as the UN Security Council adopted a resolution renewing sanctions on those threatening peace and stability in Yemen.
The resolution passed by consensus. It extended the targeted asset freeze and travel ban on individuals threatening peace in Yemen, including those linked to the Houthis, until November 14, 2027. It also renewed the mandate of the Panel of Experts monitoring the sanctions until December 15, 2027.
The council demanded that the Houthis halt their military offensive, stop attacks on Saudi Arabia and end threats to commercial shipping. It also reaffirmed the arms embargo imposed under Resolution 2216 in April 2015, which has no set expiry date.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, explained its vote in favor of the text. He condemned the attacks in the strongest terms and said Pakistan stands in full solidarity with the leadership and people of Saudi Arabia. He added that Pakistan supports the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, as well as its legitimate right to defend its territory and citizens under the UN Charter and international law.
Shah also described accountability for those threatening Yemen’s peace as essential to lasting stability. The resolution moves in that direction by targeting how the Houthis arm themselves.
UN monitors have found that the group sustains its arsenal through smuggling and the diversion of civilian-use equipment, which has gradually reduced its reliance on outside supplies. The text therefore seeks to restrict access to the components and chemicals used to make drones and missiles. Council members must decide by January 11 what measures to take, based on a list the expert panel will prepare.
The panel’s role has also grown. It has been asked to examine the revenue the Houthis earn from their control of key economic sectors in Yemen, and to recommend ways to stop those funds from going to military activities.
The resolution also warns that the arbitrary detention of UN, diplomatic and humanitarian personnel by the Houthis could justify further sanctions. This follows the death in Houthi custody of Mohammad El-Shami, a Yemeni employee of the UN Human Rights Office who had been detained since June 6, 2024. His family was told only recently that he had died more than a month earlier.
Consensus did not come easily. Britain had sought to restore language calling the Houthis a terrorist group, as in previous sanctions resolutions since 2022, but dropped the effort after Russia objected that it could undermine political negotiations. Bahrain, backed by the United States, also tried to reintroduce the wording, but the proposal was not accommodated. China, supported by Russia, objected to the proposed list of dual-use items and to the wider mandate for the expert panel.
Yemen’s Ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Al-Saadi, welcomed the council’s condemnation of the Houthis. He regretted that members could not agree on using plain terms, and he accused the group of using starvation as a weapon of war. He also called for an end to its long siege of Taiz.
Pakistan backed stronger international action but stressed that the conflict also needs a political settlement. Shah said any settlement must respect Yemen’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and he reaffirmed Pakistan’s readiness to support efforts to restore peace and ease Yemen’s humanitarian suffering.
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On enforcement, Pakistan emphasized that the Panel of Experts must work strictly within the council’s mandate, with professionalism, impartiality and consistency. Shah said this would strengthen the credibility of the panel’s work, and he thanked Britain for its constructive role in negotiating the text.
The urgency stems from recent weeks, when the Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi airports, ports and oil installations. The group seized Sanaa in 2014, and Saudi Arabia intervened militarily the following year in support of the internationally recognized government. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely froze the fighting, but hostilities resumed earlier this year, with Houthi attacks on Saudi territory and Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
The latest escalation also threatens the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Ambassador Syed Haider Shah said, “An inclusive political process that is Yemeni-owned and Yemeni-led” is necessary for peace.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
