Top officials from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan met Iranian delegation in Tehran yesterday in a bid to de-escalate the Middle East conflict, as Yemen’s Houthis launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia and Egypt approved defence support for the Gulf kingdom.
The talks were the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations – which signed the Mecca mutual defence pact in August – since a war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran also spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The Saudi foreign ministry said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to ‘prevent the return of military escalation’.
Saudi Arabia was represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir; and Türkiye by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi and Iranian officials said.
Iranian state media published pictures of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, attending the meetings.
At the conclusion of the meetings, the four states agreed to continue talks with a view to strengthening co-operation, especially in peace and security, state media reported.
Pakistan and Qatar have led mediation efforts in the war. Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday, an official told Reuters.
Earlier efforts helped produce an interim peace agreement in June but fighting between Iran and the United States soon resumed.
Conflict then flared between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia, opening a new front.
The wider fighting has restricted shipping through the energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, pushed up global oil and gas prices, left Gulf states facing missile and drone attacks, and caused a new humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have sharpened in recent days. President Donald Trump said on Friday the US may carry out another military operation against Iran.
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