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Top officials from Saudi Arabia and allies Turkey and Pakistan were in Iran on Monday to negotiate an end to Houthi attacks — as well as the wider war.
The talks represent the first, high-level contact between Tehran and the alliance that is tasked with defending Saudi Arabia, home to the holy city of Mecca.
The hope is for the nations to pave a way to avoid all-out war from resuming between the US and Iran, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, as the conflict has forced the kingdom back into Yemen’s bloody civil war.
Oil futures dipped slightly Monday on the hope the talks could result in a renewed deal.
The talks are meant to be a prelude to establishing a new regional security framework between Tehran and the Mecca Defense Alliance — a group that is backed by Pakistan’s nuclear arms and Saudi Arabia’s vast financial resources, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters.
“We have consistently emphasized that regional security can only be ensured by relying on the will and security considerations of the countries of the region,” Baghaei said.
Baghaei said the nations would also discuss “Israel’s expansionist policies, developments in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and the repercussions of US and Israeli military action against Iran”.
It remains to be seen how tough the alliance is willing to get with Iran after both Pakistan and Turkey declined to respond militarily to the ongoing Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, including a drone strike that got dangerously close to Mecca.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels celebrated another attack on Monday that reportedly targeted pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, as well as Riyadh’s airport.
Egypt, which is not a member of the Mecca pact, has instead stepped up and authorized its forces to send help to defend Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are also a major financial partner to Cairo.
Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter in the Middle East, has had to deal with the pain of the US-Iran war for nearly eight months, with the kingdom’s problems expanding after the Houthis reignited their attacks against the Riyadh-backed government in Yemen.
The Houthi rebels vowed to support their backers in Tehran during the war and launched a lightning offensive in recent months to take over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, further threatening Saudi oil exports.
With Post Wires