ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, condemning the recent Houthi attacks against the Kingdom and describing them as “reckless actions” that threaten regional stability and peace.

The conversation took place as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched missile and drone strikes against several targets in southern Saudi Arabia this week from Sept. 8. The attacks, which targeted a military air base and energy facilities, injured over 73 people and sparked fires that temporarily disrupted operations at a major oil refinery in Jazan.

On Saturday, two people were injured when a mosque and several buildings were damaged in Jazan after being struck by a projectile launched by Houthi rebels, authorities said.

“I reiterated Pakistan’s strongest condemnation of the recent Houthi attacks targeting civilian and economic infrastructure in the Kingdom, and conveyed our complete solidarity with the Saudi leadership and our Saudi brothers and sisters,” Sharif said in a statement about his conversation with the Saudi crown prince.

“Such reckless actions threaten regional peace and stability, with serious consequences for the global economy and energy security.”

The Pakistani premier appreciated the crown prince’s leadership amid the turmoil, vowing that Pakistan’s military chief, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and he himself would continue efforts to defuse regional tensions and promote regional peace.

Pakistan has grown closer to Saudi Arabia in recent times, with Islamabad and Riyadh signing a trilateral defense pact with Türkiye last month. The pact stipulates that an attack targeting any of the three countries will be considered an attack against all of them.

Before that, Islamabad and Riyadh signed a bilateral defense pact in September 2025. The Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SDMA) stipulates that any attack against either of the two countries will be considered an attack against them both.

Pakistan’s defense minister warned the Houthi rebels this week against exploiting the broader US-Iran confrontation to draw Saudi Arabia into the conflict, saying that they would be doing so at their “own peril.”

“Unprovoked aggression or spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational,” he said about the trilateral defense pact.