Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials hold talks with Iran in Tehran

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday, in an effort to head off a return to fighting in the Middle East. Egypt's parliament separately approved defensive military support for Saudi Arabia.

CGTN reported, citing Iran's Foreign Ministry, that the delegations were led by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, director of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization. CGTN said they were to meet Iran's top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington. It added that the three countries are signatories to the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August, under which an armed attack on any one of them is considered an attack on all.

Anadolu Ajansı reported, citing security sources, that Kalin met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, together with the Saudi and Pakistani officials. It said the meeting focused on security problems in Palestine, Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen, and that US-Iran negotiations were also discussed. A News carried the same account.

RTE reported that a Saudi foreign ministry statement said the officials flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis". CGTN quoted a separate Saudi statement as saying the delegations hoped to find "ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability." RTE said the talks follow warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war, and described the visit as the first joint trip to Tehran by the three countries since they formed their defence alliance in August.

CGTN reported that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the agenda had not been set, but that the talks would "undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security." According to CGTN, two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the war in Yemen and strikes by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also on the table.

RTE reported that Saudi Arabia has suffered weeks of attacks by the Houthis, including a missile strike that killed 13 at Riyadh's international airport. It said Egypt's parliament approved a request from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to approve defensive military support for Saudi Arabia "if requested". RTE added that it was not clear exactly what support was on offer.

RTE also quoted United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, who told a press conference in Cairo that it was "essential to stop any escalation" in the Middle East. On mediation, RTE said US-Iran efforts have been led by Qatar and Pakistan, and that a Qatari delegation visited Tehran, according to Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. CGTN, citing a regional official, said Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the United States.

Background

Qatar Standard reported on Monday that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, the three nations behind the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, held talks in Tehran with Iranian leaders over regional security and tensions between Iran and the United States. That report said Yahoo called the visit the highest-level contact between Iran and the three members of the agreement.

Earlier, Qatar Standard reported in September that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended the sixth foreign ministers' meeting of the Turkiye-Egypt-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia quadrilateral mechanism, a coordination format that has convened repeatedly since 2023.