The entry of new actors, Iran-aligned Ansarullah Houthis and Iraqi militias, poses a serious security and economic threat to Saudi Arabia. Oil prices have soared as a result and fuel supplies to global markets have become more uncertain. Diplomacy is deadlocked. Efforts to revive talks between the US and Iran had stalled before these developments. Now they appear to have hit a wall.

The dramatic turn of events came with the Houthis’ lightning military offensive along Yemen’s west coast, which culminated in their capture of the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha and Perim island in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. This gave them control of a key shipping route. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces failed to prevent the advance and the loss of more strategic territory to the Houthis. At the same time, the Houthis launched attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure. The vital East-West pipeline across Saudi Arabia was forced to close after a drone strike by Iraq-based militias. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi control of another maritime chokepoint — the narrow Bab al-Mandeb strait — has severely constrained KSA’s ability to export oil.

Tehran claims the Houthis are acting independently. Nevertheless, the action by the Houthis and Iraqi militias could have been coordinated by Iran to mount pressure on the US and counter its attempt to loosen Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz by American warships escorting more vessels through the waterway. It may also be a res­ponse to US economic warfare which is placing fur­ther strain on the Iranian economy. Multiple Saudi air strikes on the Houthis have failed to dislodge them from the territory they have seized across Yemen. The militia continues to control the entire western coast of the country along the Red Sea.

The fighting marks the re-eruption of a conflict that began in 2014 in Yemen’s civil war between a Saudi-led coalition spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Houthis. This came to a halt with a ceasefire in 2022. But the truce broke down this July when the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports following an attack on Sanaa airport by Saudi-backed forces.

Beyond the economic fallout the political implications of a spreading conflict are also serious.

The deteriorating situation confronts MBS with a dilemma: to escalate or pursue a diplomatic path. His efforts to secure US military intervention have not succeeded so far although there are unconfirmed reports that the US is weighing options to launch military strikes against the Houthis. He spoke twice to President Donald Trump asking for direct US help but Washington has been reluctant to join the fight. Trump’s comments during a visit to Ireland are revealing. “The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” he said. “They don’t want us to go after them and would much prefer not having us involved, and they’re letting most ships go through. It’s just one country they’re not too happy with. And we’ll get that straightened out.”

The remarks indicate Trump’s unwillingness to intervene even as his most important Gulf ally comes under fierce attack. Washington clearly doesn’t want to shift focus from the conflict with Iran, where it is bogged down, having failed to gain the upper hand and compel Iran to submit to its demands. The US military is already overstretched and facing a serious munition shortfall after nearly seven months of war. These problems will worsen if the US intervenes in the Saudi-Houthis conflict. The US Central Comm­and estimates the Iran war has cost over $43 billion.

Meanwhile, speculation that Riyadh may invoke the Makkah joint defence agreement with Pakistan and Turkiye has so far come to nothing. Pakistan has given no indication of going beyond verbal support to the kingdom and condemnation of Houthi actions even though it has troops and fighter jets deployed there. As the Foreign Office spokesman put it, the pact is defensive in nature and no military plan is under discussion. Prince Mohammed has however held talks with the Centcom chief amid reports that the US is helping KSA with targeting and intelligence.

For all the assessments by many Western analysts that Iran’s regional allies have been weakened by the war with the US, the latest events show this is not the case. The ‘axis of resistance’ is not only intact but potent enough to launch a two-pronged assault on KSA plunging it into a crisis. Meanwhile, Iran’s leverage has increased because in addition to its grip over the Strait of Hormuz its ally, the Houthi militia, now controls the Red Sea energy chokepoint, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which can be seen as a strategic gain for Tehran.

The economic impact of an escalating wider conflict can be far-reaching. Already the oil price has soared to above $100 a barrel. Gas prices too have risen. Uncertainty about global energy supplies, which are already running low, may drive prices even higher. This despite the Houthi leadership’s assurance that it will not block all commercial shipping in the Red Sea, only Saudi-linked ships. With its oil production having fallen, the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has already cut crude oil shipments. The damage to its 1,200-kilometre export pipeline threatens the loss of four per cent of global oil supply. In the US, the oil price rise has contributed to pushing US borrowing costs to their highest level since 2007. The bond market is being adversely affected by fears over energy prices and inflation.

Beyond the economic fallout for countries across the world, the political implications of a spreading conflict are no less serious. With new actors having entered the fray — and more might be sucked in — diplomacy will face new challenges in forging agreements among so many players. This will make the diplomatic process more complex and difficult even if there is willingness among the warring parties to find a negotiated end to the conflict. Unfortunately, a regional meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf states to discuss control of the Strait of Hormuz and work out an interim arrangement has been postponed. For now, neither the US nor Iran are prepared to budge from their position and resume negotiations. In the end, the outcome may hinge on who can endure economic pain the longest.

The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2026

Unfortunate Sith parallels aside, the US has not revealed the exact nature of the weaponry but US military leaders have previously spoken about the need for space-based military capabilities, purportedly to counter alleged Russian and Chinese capabilities. In particular, the US has been looking at anti-satellite systems designed to disable or blind an adversary’s eye-in-the-sky capabilities.

That capability has been quite irksome for the US during its disastrous war on Iran, with reports claiming that Chinese and Russian satellites provided information for Iranian drone and missile strikes, enabling pinpoint accuracy when it comes to targeting US assets in the region. And then, a few weeks ago, an orbiting Chinese satellite — Yaogan-50 — disintegrated into over 40 pieces. Was this a coincidence or a demonstration of America’s now-declared capabilities? We’ll likely never know.

Development of space-based weapons continues.

What we do know is that China — which has protested against the US announcement — has tried to develop anti-satellite capabilities of its own likely based on the philosophy that while space-based weapons are difficult to deploy and expensive, countermeasures against enemy satellites may be an easier way out, similar to the philosophy of area denial by fielding anti-ship and aircraft carrier missiles.

In 2007, China successfully targeted an aging weather satellite with a ground-based missile. Next year, the US followed suit by shooting down a military satellite it claimed was about to crash, and in 2010, China shot down another satellite. But since destroying satellites entirely can be messy, capabilities are being developed to ‘blind’ them instead, rendering them useless; along with the US, Russia and China are also developing and deploying ground-based directed-energy weapons and satellite-blinding lasers. The US is already deploying the Meadowlands Counter Communication System which can fry orbital satellites using electromagnetic beams.

In one sense, the first shot in the Space Wars was fired in World War II when German scientists created the V1 and V2 rocket and missile, the predecessors of the cruise and ballistic missiles, but the real push to weaponise space began with the space race where the USSR scored early wins with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and by making cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin the first man in space four years later.

In 1962, the US conducted a high-altitude nuclear weapons test codenamed Starfish Prime — not just as a warning to the USSR but also to see if the resulting electromagnetic pulse would disrupt nearby satellites. With the spectre of nuclear weapons in space looming large and talk of potential military bases on the moon, the Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967, prohibiting the placement of nuclear weapons or other WMDs and proclaiming that no country would seek sovereignty over the moon.

But the development of space-based weapons continued nevertheless. In 1974, the Soviets successfully tested the first known armed satellite. The Salyut-3 satellite was equ­ip­ped with an air­craft cannon from which it fi­­­red a single rou­nd proving that it was ind­eed possible to arm satellites alth­o­ugh quest­ions of accura­cy and feasibility rem­­­­­ained.

Over a decade later, the USSR returned to the concept by testing a heavy satellite — the Polyus — which was armed with a carbon-dioxide laser and a cannon to boot. However, it failed to launch.

Then there was Reagan and his ‘Star Wars’ initiative that envisioned a national ballistic missile shield for the US, some components of which would be space-based: the ‘Brilliant Pebbles’ project envisioned the deployment of thousands of small interceptors in orbit that would then collide with Soviet ICBMs — a sort of Patriot Missile system in space. Other proposals included satellites armed with lasers. Whether or not Reagan knew, most of these plans were impossible to implement because of cost and lack of requisite technology. But the USSR took it seriously enough to try and play catch-up. Arguably, the costs thus incurred played a part in the downfall of the Soviet Empire.

But this isn’t the Cold War anymore, and the rapid technological developments we are seeing now mean that ideas once safely relegated to the realm of science fiction are becoming fact. Watch the skies.

The writer is a journalist.

X: @zarrarkhuhro

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2026

KARACHI: In a disturbing incident, a middle-aged doctor, his wife and their three underage daughters were found dead at their Ahsanabad apartment in Scheme-33 off Superhighway on Sunday, officials said.

They added that the five partially decomposed bodies were recovered from the seventh floor of the high-rise building.

The bodies were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

They were identified as 45-year-old Dr Umer and his 35-year-old wife, Mehwish. However, the police named only one daughter, 13-year-old Zainab, and said that two other girls were between the ages of two and four.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn there were no apparent injury marks on the bodies. She said the bodies were in advanced stage of decomposition. The cause of death was reserved for the chemical analysis.

Dr Syed added that the doctors have collected samples for the DNA analysis.

SITE Superhighway Industrial Area police SHO Mohammed Nawaz told Dawn that they received information from the union of the building that a foul smell was emanating from an apartment. The police rushed to the spot and saw the door locked from the inside. They broke open the door and found the five bodies lying in a room.

The officer said that the doctor worked at a private hospital near his residence.

He was recently diagnosed with cancer, which had reportedly upset him. He said recently robbers had also looted the doctor. The police officer said the family had been living there since 2024.

East SSP Zubair Nazir Shaikh, who visited the spot, told Dawn that the bodies had been there for around three days.

He said it would be premature to say anything about the exact cause of the death at this stage. He added that they were waiting for the post-mortem reports. Besides, he said, the crime scene unit was also called in to collect evidence while CCTV footage was also being obtained.

He said investigators would take statements from the hospital management, where the doctor had worked, and neighbours to get clues about the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

He said the doctor originally hailed from Punjab. The investigators have managed to contact his brother, who lives in Lahore.

The police have also asked the doctor’s father-in-law, who also lives in Punjab, to claim the bodies.

The SSP said the neighbours had told the police about the doctor’s medical condition and his difficult financial situation.

However, further investigations are underway to verify the information, he added.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2026

The development follows the detention of Imran’s sister, Aleema Khan, after Lahore’s deputy commissioner (DC) ordered her detention or arrest for 30 days on Sunday.

Aleema’s arrest came amid reports of a crackdown on the PTI ahead of its September 27 countrywide protest and march to Islamabad, which the party has called to demand Imran’s release from jail and mobilise people for the supremacy of the Constitution.

In a post on X in the early hours of Monday, the party’s Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram accused Punjab police of “arresting both sisters of Imran, along with their children and the sons of Aleema Khan”.

Akram claimed that the individuals had “been placed in an armoured vehicle and are being taken to an unknown location”.

PTI lawyer Awais Younas Chaudhry confirmed to Dawn that all three of Imran’s sisters had been arrested.

“Earlier Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan were confined to their house, but on Monday morning they were taken to an unknown place,” he claimed.

Chaudhry said that Aleema was detained for 30 days under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960 (MPO).

“However, we have not received any orders regarding Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan, due to which I can not confirm whether they will be released soon or they are also detained for 30 days,” he told Dawn.

PTI, in a post on X, condemned the alleged arrest, calling it a “blatant abuse of authority, a violation of fundamental rights, and an act of political victimisation”.

“Such conduct is illegal, unconstitutional, and is condemned in the strongest possible terms,” the party said.

Meanwhile, Imran’s son Kasim Khan, in a post on X, alleged that Uzma and Noreen had been “abducted”.

“This is a disgrace,” Kasim wrote, claiming that authorities had “broken into my aunties and cousins houses and forced them into vehicles with no explanation”.

“No reasons for arrest have been stated. No news has been released as to where they have been taken,” he wrote.

More to follow.