Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan agree to continue talks for peace

Iran has said it will continue discussions with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye amid escalating tensions that have threatened regional stability and shaken the global economy.

The announcement came as top Iranian military officials met with senior Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials on Monday in what Iranian state television described as their first joint meeting.

Pakistan and Turkiye are strong allies of Saudi Arabia and have pledged military support to Riyadh as part of their new mutual defence pact, the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. The meeting in Tehran was held after Saudi Arabia faced weeks of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are fighting forces of the country’s internationally recognised and Saudi-backed government.

The meeting, which focused on “peace and security in the region”, was hosted by Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and attended by Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the four states “agreed to continue the dialogue to strengthen cooperation amongst the four regional countries, including for peace and security in the region”, according to the Iranian state-owned Press TV.

Iranian state media also published pictures of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attending the meetings.

US-Iran tensions

A senior Pakistani security official told the Reuters news agency that the talks focused on building a regional nonaggression network. The official said the agenda also covered negotiations between the United States and Iran, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the Strait of Hormuz and the US blockade of Iranian ports.

Another Pakistani official told Reuters that Munir, with US President Donald Trump’s blessing to pursue diplomacy, had presented Iran with a proposal that would offer something to both Washington and Tehran. The agency said the official did not give details.

The states in the Mecca pact, along with Qatar, could act as guarantors if the proposal was accepted, the official said.

Rezaei, the Iranian security chief, meanwhile said the visit showed that US “threats have little impact on countries around the world”. He also spoke of a “new and positive atmosphere” in the region.

Earlier in the day, Rayed Krimly, the Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy, said the visit comes as part of the continued efforts by the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement allies “for de-escalation between parties involved in the ongoing crisis and promoting dialogue and diplomatic solutions in support of the mediation efforts carried out” by Qatar and Pakistan.

“The visit underscores the pivotal role of Mecca Joint Defence Agreement countries in reinforcing regional security and stability and working with all countries in the region to achieve that goal,” he wrote on X.

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The talks were the first high-level contact between Iran and the three members of the alliance since Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi armed group escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia last month.

Pakistan’s Field Marshal Munir last week visited Tehran, where he met Pezeshkian and other senior officials.

During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with the US about ending its war with Israel on Iran until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.

Pakistan has been a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran since the US and Israel launched the war in February.

Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the US resumed weeks later. Conflict then flared between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia, opening a new front and deepening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The Houthi attacks have become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israel war on Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in the wider war.

Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August. Under it, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

The agreement’s first article says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognised borders, according to the text publicised at the time.

Ministers from the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh this month and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

Efforts by Turkiye’s parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still under way, while Pakistan approved the pact last week.