Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey holds talks on Iran war

Senior officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are meeting in Tehran in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the war in Iran, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that the talks focused on shared regional security interests, according to state broadcaster Press TV.

Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran, IRIB said.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister, Khalid bin Salman, the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was also due to take part.

Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın was also expected to travel to Tehran for the talks, a diplomat at the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

A meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, was planned.

The aim was to de-escalate the ongoing conflict and seek diplomatic solutions, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Munir visited Tehran for talks only last week. Amid the risk of a fresh escalation of the war with the United States, he reportedly delivered a final warning to the Iranian government.

Regional negotiators have their own interests in resolving the conflict.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are part of a new military alliance called the Mecca Pact.

Earlier on Friday, the foreign ministers of the three countries, alongside Egyptian officials, met in Istanbul with the foreign ministers of Germany, Italy, Britain and France.