Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan hold high-level talks with Iran

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan traveled to Tehran on Monday for discussions aimed at reducing regional tensions, even as the Houthis announced further attacks on Saudi infrastructure and Egypt authorized military assistance to the kingdom. The diplomatic gathering marked the first senior-level meeting between Iran and the three countries since the outbreak of the war, which began with Israeli and US strikes against Iran and subsequently expanded to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, the delegation sought to establish diplomatic channels that could help avert another round of military confrontation. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin participated in the meetings. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei represented Tehran.

Iranian state media reported that the participants agreed to maintain contact and pursue further cooperation on regional stability and security. The initiative follows mediation efforts by Pakistan and Qatar, which have sought to bring an end to the conflict. According to Reuters, Qatari representatives also visited Tehran on Sunday. Previous diplomatic efforts resulted in a temporary peace arrangement in June, but hostilities between Washington and Tehran subsequently resumed.

The fighting later expanded to Yemen, where the Iranian-backed Houthis have engaged Saudi forces and launched attacks on Saudi Arabia itself. The wider conflict has disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, contributed to rising international energy prices, and exposed Gulf countries to repeated missile and drone attacks. Tensions between the United States and Iran have also increased following warnings from both sides about possible new military operations.

President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington could launch another operation against Iran. Iranian security officials, meanwhile, told Reuters that Tehran had prepared plans to strike underwater communications cables in the Gulf in the event of renewed Israeli and American attacks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the Tehran discussions would address developments involving Israel, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Arab territories, alongside the consequences of the military campaign against Iran.

According to Baghaei, the meeting could provide a foundation for future regional security arrangements. A senior Pakistani security official said the participating countries were exploring a framework under which regional states would commit to refraining from aggression against one another. The discussions also covered the possibility of renewed US-Iran negotiations, Houthi operations against Saudi Arabia, restrictions on maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and the American blockade of Iranian ports.

Another Pakistani official said Munir had presented Tehran with a diplomatic proposal after receiving approval from Trump to pursue negotiations. The official indicated that the proposed arrangement contained provisions intended to address demands from both Washington and Tehran, without elaborating. Under the proposal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, together with Qatar, could serve as guarantors of a future agreement. However, an Iranian official said Tehran would not discuss its nuclear program before its conditions for ending the conflict were satisfied.

Those demands include removing restrictions on Iranian oil exports and lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports. US Vice President JD Vance has maintained that an agreement to end the war must include limits on Iran's uranium enrichment activities. Meanwhile, fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis continued on Monday. The Iranian-backed group claimed responsibility for attacks against pumping facilities along Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline and Riyadh's international airport.

Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the reported strikes. The latest claims followed intensified Saudi military operations against the Houthis, who seized strategically important territory along Yemen's Red Sea coastline last month after advancing against forces aligned with the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis have also targeted Saudi oil facilities, ports, and airports during the recent escalation. In a separate development, Egypt's parliament approved the deployment of military assistance to help defend Saudi Arabia.

Cairo has been considering joining the mutual defense agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in Mecca in August. The agreement obligates its members to respond collectively to threats against their sovereignty, recognized borders, and territorial integrity. Representatives of the three countries met in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed on measures intended to accelerate the deployment of military personnel and defense capabilities to Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan ratified the agreement last week, while the Turkish parliament has begun its own ratification process, which remains ongoing.