ISLAMABAD -- A direct threat from Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen is testing Pakistan's commitments under the trilateral Mecca defense pact signed last month with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with experts arguing that Islamabad has several options for its involvement in the deepening Saudi-Houthi conflict while interference may risk its diplomatic capital in the region.

Houthi leaders, for the first time, have directly warned Pakistan not to interfere in their conflict with Saudi Arabia.

"By God, if Turkey and Pakistan become involved, we will strike them with an iron fist," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi leader, told Iraqi news channel iNews in an interview on Saturday.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are an armed group from the Zaydi Shia community and took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014. The group currently controls most of northern and western Yemen.

A Saudi-led military alliance launched operations against the Houthis in 2015 but failed to achieve its objective and reached a truce in 2022. Since July, the Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles targeting oil facilities and Riyadh's airport.

Pakistan has become a stakeholder in Saudi Arabia's conflict with the Houthis after Islamabad signed the bilateral Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Riyadh last year, and its partnership was further strengthened with the recent Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The latest agreement stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three will be considered an attack on all under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which is about self-defense.

On Wednesday, Nauman Mahmood, a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army, was appointed as the first secretary-general of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. The three allies will hold an urgent, high-level meeting to discuss ways to support Saudi Arabia, a Reuters report said on Friday.

The continuing Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and the threats issued by the rebels to Pakistan have put Islamabad in a predicament.

Umer Karim, an associate fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, a think tank in Riyadh, said that Pakistan would be under pressure from Saudi Arabia to get involved in Yemen militarily if the attacks continue. See also Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi pact a 'Muslim NATO'?: 5 things to know "Pakistani land troops would be needed in action from a Saudi perspective inside Yemen," he said. "This is a situation which Pakistan will tend to avoid, and instead [it] may try to provide Saudi forces with [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] support and also perhaps launch air strikes on Houthi targets," he told Nikkei Asia.

Pakistani sources confirm that the country's military is already stationed in Saudi Arabia. Reuters earlier reported that the deployment included 8,000 troops, a squadron of JF-17 fighter jets, drones and an HQ-9 air-defense system.

A government official, who is not authorized to speak to the media, told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity that Pakistani forces in Saudi Arabia are engaged only in the kingdom's air defense. "[The Mecca pact] is a defensive agreement, and that's why Pakistani forces' presence in the kingdom is of a purely defensive nature," the official said.

A government official, who is not authorized to speak to the media, told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity that Pakistani forces in Saudi Arabia are engaged only in the kingdom's air defense. "[The Mecca pact] is a defensive agreement, and that's why Pakistani forces' presence in the kingdom is of a purely defensive nature," the official said.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistan armed forces' mouthpiece, did not respond to a request for comment. Sahar Khan, a nonresident fellow at the New York-based Institute for Global Affairs, said the Mecca pact is a collective security arrangement, but it does not specify a particular response.

"So, Pakistan has a lot of flexibility and could meet its obligations by intelligence sharing and logistical support rather than conducting any operations in Yemen," she told Nikkei Asia. Experts further added that Pakistan's intervention against the Houthis would most likely impact its relations with Iran, as the Houthis align with Tehran. The rebels deny the alignment.

Khan said that Islamabad has gained considerable diplomatic capital presenting itself as a country capable of talking to Saudi Arabia, Iran and the U.S. "Direct participation in the Yemen conflict would put that role at risk. If Pakistan makes any offensive move, it risks losing access to Tehran and would lose its geopolitical spot in today's world," she said.

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow covering the Persian Gulf region at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, said the situation also has an economic dimension. "Pakistan has a strong interest in avoiding wider escalation in the Gulf because of its links to energy supplies, trade, maritime routes, investment and the large Pakistani community in Gulf states," she said. "A broader regional conflict would create costs for Pakistan regardless of which side it was perceived to support." Adnan Aamir is a contributing writer.