ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb to remain open, warning against allowing the two vital energy and shipping routes to become arenas of confrontation as Middle East hostilities intensify.

The warning at the United Nations General Assembly came as the US-Iran war and renewed fighting involving Yemen’s Houthis have disrupted shipping through the two waterways, while Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia have escalated in recent weeks.

Pakistan has sought to mediate between Washington and Tehran while also deepening defense ties with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

“The Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb are arteries of the global economy,” Sharif told world leaders during his address in New York. “They must remain open, connecting nations, not becoming choke points of confrontation.”

“These waters must carry the promise of prosperity, not the perils of war,” he added.

Shipping through Hormuz, the gateway for much of the Gulf’s oil and gas exports, has fallen sharply since the beginning of the Iran war in February, while insecurity around Bab-el-Mandeb has disrupted another critical route linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

Sharif said Pakistan had moved quickly to mediate after war broke out in the Gulf and wider Middle East, bringing the US and Iran together for negotiations that eventually produced the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in June.

The agreement provided for an end to military operations and steps toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but hostilities have since surged again.

“Yet, amid the roar of missiles, drones and guns, the voice for diplomacy must echo even louder and stronger,” he said.

SAUDI ‘RED LINE’

Sharif also strongly condemned escalating attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saudi Arabia, declaring that any threat to the holy cities would cross a “red line” for Pakistan.

“We once again condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent deplorable attacks by the Houthis against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“The attempted drone attack on the holy city of Makkatul Mukarrama has outraged Muslims across the globe. Any threat to the safety and sanctity of the Haramain Sharifain is a red line that must never be crossed.”

Saudi Arabia said this month it had intercepted a Houthi drone targeting Makkah, the holiest city in Islam, an accusation the group denied.

The Kingdom also said on Thursday it intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Taif and the Yanbu area, while the Houthis said they had also attacked Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu.

The attacks have escalated since fighting in Yemen intensified in July and have added another layer of risk to regional energy infrastructure and Red Sea shipping.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement on Aug. 7, under which an armed attack against any one of the three countries is considered an attack against all. The three countries are due to hold high-level consultations under the pact as Houthi attacks on the Kingdom intensify.

Sharif reiterated that the agreement was defensive and was not aimed at another state.

“This alliance is not directed against any country,” he said. “It is a collective commitment for defense, stability and peace in the region and nothing more.”

‘GENOCIDAL AGENDA’

Sharif also devoted a substantial part of his address to the Palestinians, criticizing Israel for continuing violence in Gaza and expanding it to the occupied West Bank.

“For generations, Palestinians, particularly women, children and the elderly, have been subjected to occupation, eviction, suffering and death,” he said.

He criticized the international response to the conflict and questioned why children in Gaza should have different prospects from those elsewhere.

“Does not a child born in Gaza deserve the same life and the same future and same dream as a child anywhere else in the world?” he said.

He said Israel was pursuing a “genocidal agenda” through the forcible eviction of Palestinians in the West Bank and reiterated Islamabad’s support for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Sharif also called for an immediate end to Israeli military action in Lebanon and Syria.

“We also condemn continued Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Syria,” he said. “This, too, must stop immediately.”

RIVERS SHOULD NOURISH, NOT DIVIDE

Turning later in his speech to South Asia, the prime minister said Pakistan would continue its political, diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris and called for a settlement of the decades-old dispute with India.

He also warned New Delhi against interfering with Pakistan’s share of waters under the Indus Waters Treaty, which India has said it is holding “in abeyance.”

“Water must never be weaponized,” he said. “Rivers should nourish nations, not divide them. Therefore, any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan's share of the waters will be treated as an act of war.”

Sharif also said militant groups were using sanctuaries in Afghanistan to carry out attacks in Pakistan, amid renewed tensions and cross-border fighting between the two neighbors.

“Afghan territory continues to be exploited by the TTP, Fitna al-Khawarij, and the BLA, Fitna al-Hindustan,” he said, referring to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Balochistan Liberation Army.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has repeatedly denied allowing its territory to be used for attacks on Pakistan, saying Islamabad’s security problems are an internal matter.

“The Afghan authorities must fulfill their international commitment and take verifiable, decisive action to ensure that Afghan soil is never again used against Pakistan or any other country,” Sharif said.

He added that the fundamental rights of Afghans, “especially women and girls,” must be respected.