Top officials from Mecca Pact countries Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are to meet Iran’s leaders in Tehran on Oct 26 in their first high-level contact since the kingdom became a pressure point in the wider Iran conflict.
Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkey by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi and Iranian officials said.
The talks come as attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have spiralled over recent weeks and rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has grown more heated. Both countries have also drawn up plans to restart the wider war, possibly after the US midterm elections on Nov 3.
The Oct 26 planned talks would be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia was drawn deeper into the conflict. Under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed in August, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
Qatari mediators met Iranian officials in Tehran on Oct 25 in a push to de-escalate regional tensions, Reuters reported. Qatar has, for months, played a key mediating role between Tehran and Washington.
A senior Iranian official said the meeting was initiated by Pakistan, during Munir’s visit to Tehran last week, as he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials.
During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.
Earlier mediation efforts involving both Pakistan and Qatar helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed weeks later.
The deputy secretary of Iran’s top security body, Ali Baqeri-Kani, told state TV that Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid, Pakistan’s Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin would visit Tehran for consultations with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on regional security.
Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said the meeting is part of ongoing efforts by the Mecca Pact countries to de-escalate the current crisis, promote diplomatic solutions, and support mediation efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan.
“The visit also underscores the pivotal role of the Mecca Pact states in fostering regional security and stability, and their commitment to working with all nations in the region toward achieving this goal,” Krimly posted on X.
Pakistan’s military media wing and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tensions rising
Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of missiles and drones on Oct 25 as fighting with the Houthis continued unabated.
Ministers from the Mecca Pact countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier in October and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi attacks have become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have sharpened in recent days. President Donald Trump said on Oct 23 the US may carry out another military operation against Iran and Iran’s leaders have said that a renewed US military campaign would be met with a stronger response than before.
Iranian security officials have told Reuters that Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to hit Gulf undersea cables if the United States and Israel attack again. A US intelligence memo this week warned that Iranian plots against American personnel had reached “advanced stages”.
The war, now nearly eight months old, has weighed on President Donald Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the midterms.
The Mecca agreement’s first article says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters.
Efforts by Turkey’s Parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still under way, while Pakistan approved the pact last week. REUTERS