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Opinion
Pakistan worries about being drawn into US-Iran conflict after Houthi attack

Pakistan worries about being drawn into US-Iran conflict after Houthi attack

Attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis this week have frustrated Pakistan and threaten to draw Islamabad into the conflict, complicating any future role it may have as a mediator between the United States and Iran. Nuclear-armed Pakistan, which helped broker an interim deal last month in the war between Washington and Tehran, signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year and thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been deployed to the kingdom, alongside a squadron of fighter jets. Pakistan had already voiced anger about Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but regional analysts and officials said the attacks this week had pushed Islamabad’s frustration with Iran to a new level as they raised the prospect of a new Saudi-Houthi conflict. The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday. The cross-border fire pierced a four-year truce but has so far been contained to a single incident. “Our top civil and military leaders have conveyed to Iran at the highest level that the attacks on Saudi Arabia are attacks on Pakistan,” a Pakistani official told Reuters. “It is our red line.” The source and other Pakistani officials interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly. “Pakistan wasn’t anticipating that the tensions will rise so suddenly,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, a Pakistani security analyst. Pakistan’s frustration appears rooted in growing concerns that Houthi involvement may be more likely to draw Pakistan into the conflict than the Iranian missile strikes were earlier this year. Pakistani soldiers are deployed near the Saudi border with Yemen, two Pakistani officials said, increasing their direct exposure. There are also concerns in Islamabad that a Houthi-led escalation could disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, an important trade route that Pakistan and many other countries depend on. A widening conflict there could be more difficult to contain and could target Saudi interests in a way that forces Pakistan to intervene militarily under the terms of its mutual defence pact. Ghulam Mustafa, a retired Pakistani general, said that for now “Pakistan’s top leaders are still engaged in appeasing all stakeholders”. However, he cautioned that this could change “if the Houthis expand the radius of their attacks in Saudi Arabia”. This week’s tensions between Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia have fueled broader concerns in Islamabad about Iran. Two Pakistani government officials said growing divisions within the Iranian leadership have been watched with concern in Islamabad. The views and objectives of Iran’s political leaders, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, increasingly differ from those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pakistani officials said. “The military seems to be dominating the decision making in Iran,” said Muhammad Ali, a Pakistani defence analyst, adding that this is increasingly “being recognised in Islamabad”. As Pakistan seeks a more prominent regional role, analysts say it will also increasingly face the challenges that come with such exposure. When Pakistan’s defence deal with Saudi Arabia was announced last September, it was widely seen as a sign that Gulf Arab states were growing increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as a security guarantor and looking to Pakistan and other countries as a possible alternative. However, Pakistan is deeply reliant on Middle Eastern countries for oil and gas. The tensions around the Strait of Hormuz disrupted Pakistan’s supply routes, and the government imposed emergency measures including early business closures to prevent a fuel shortage. Mediating between the US and Iran has been at least as much about reopening these supply routes as it has been about diplomatic influence, according to analysts and Pakistani officials. “Yes, there is frustration, but that doesn’t mean that we are abandoning this project,” one official said, referring to the mediation. “We have invested a lot in it, and we have an interest in keeping it afloat.”    

Opinion
The serious health risks posed by wildfire smoke

The serious health risks posed by wildfire smoke

Massive wildfires are raging around the world during unprecedented heatwaves, blanketing millions of people under pungent haze caused by smoke carrying noxious gases and particulate matter that pose serious health risks.More toxic than normal air pollution, wildfire smoke can linger in the air for weeks and travel thousands of miles.Wildfires can burn not only vegetation but also vehicles and buildings as well as their contents.Along with particles of soil and biological materials, wildfire smoke often contains traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.In laboratory experiments, wildfire smoke causes more inflammation and tissue damage than air pollution, said Kent Pinkerton, co-director of the Centre for Health and the Environment at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).Studies have linked wildfire smoke with higher rates of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac arrests, increases in emergency room visits for asthma, weakened immune defences and poorer survival rates after surgery.A 2023 study in Maryland identified a spike in heart and lung illnesses that was associated with wildfire smoke originating up to 2,100 miles (3,380km) away.Wildfires also have been linked with eye and skin problems.Wildfire exposure in pregnancy has been associated with miscarriage, low birth weight and preterm delivery.A California study found a link between wildfire exposure and cellular damage in first- and second-trimester placentas.A separate study found wildfire smoke exposure during the third trimester may raise the risk of an autism diagnosis.The effects of exposure can persist for years.After Australia's 2014 Hazelwood Coal Mine fire, heart disease rates remained elevated for two-and-a-half years and respiratory illnesses for five years.A 2026 US study linked wildfire smoke exposure with elevated risks for lung, colorectal, breast, bladder and blood cancer, with the risks increasing along with the level of pollution from the fires.Exposure to the 2018 Camp Fire in California was linked to changes in cognition and brain activity six to 12 months later, California researchers found.Several studies have now linked longer-term wildfire smoke exposure to higher risks for dementia.Data from California also show an increase in fungal infections in the months following wildfire smoke exposure, likely due to spores in the smoke."The bad news is, there's no safe level" of inhaled particles from wildfire smoke, said Doug Brugge, who chairs the Department of Public Health Sciences at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. "The higher the exposure, the worse the risks, but even at levels below the national safety standards, these particles can make people sick."Any amount of inhaled particles will trigger inflammatory responses in the body.Children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses are most vulnerable.Even in healthy adults, some effects of exposure – such as sore throats, excessive phlegm, coughing, headaches and brain fog – can appear immediately and persist long after the smoke plume is gone, said Keith Bein of the Air Quality Research Centre at the University of California, Davis.To mitigate the risks, experts advise wearing N95 masks when wildfire smoke is present and limiting outdoor activities, especially strenuous sports.The longer you are outside and the harder you breathe, the more pollution you inhale, said Dr Jasvinder Singh, a lung medicine specialist at Medstar Franklin Square Medical Centre in Baltimore.Experts also recommend the use of indoor air purifiers that can trap particles smaller than 2.5 microns."Air purifiers reduce exposure and in our studies reduced blood pressure and cognitive impacts of air pollution," Brugge said.For those who cannot afford an air purifier, UC Davis offers simple instructions for building one.Online instructions for reducing exposure to wildfire smoke are available from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Particulates from wildfire smoke enter most buildings in high concentrations, experts say.On average, the concentration of wildfire pollutants indoors is about half of what it is outdoors, Singh said.If a building is poorly sealed, the concentration may be up to 70% of what it is outside, he said.Old buildings may expose people to greater amounts of pollution through drafty windows and doors.The EPA advises that during wildfire smoke events, people avoid indoor activities that put more fine particles into the air, such as smoking cigarettes, frying or broiling food, burning candles or incense, and vacuuming without a HEPA filter.Bein compared indoor wildfire smoke exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke exposure."The particles... end up everywhere – on your clothes, on your walls, on surfaces, and they're still outgassing" – being released into the air – "after the smoke plume is gone", he said.More frequent wildfires likely linked to climate change mean people will be exposed more often.The health effects over multiple seasons are not yet clear."It is hard to make predictions because it is hard to say how many fires people will be exposed to, how long the fires will burn, or what the smoke will contain," Bein said.Researchers are looking into the long-term effects of smoke particles in water supplies, on crops or ingested by livestock; of urban wildfire smoke; of wildfire exposure in utero; and whether wildfire smoke amplifies the adverse effects of extremely hot weather.Nutrients carried in wildfire smoke may contribute to downwind algal blooms, which has implications for drinking water reservoirs and lake ecology, researchers warn.