Inside Tehran talks: Iranians link Houthi de-escalation to US approval of regional truce

A day after Saudi Arabia and its two defence-pact partners sent senior officials to Tehran, sources say the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/26/live-saudi-arabia-egypt-defence-support/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/26/live-saudi-arabia-egypt-defence-support/">clearest outcome</a> is a promise to keep talking, not a deal to de-escalate on any front, including the Houthi attacks on Saudi cities.

Officials from the three <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/10/26/saudi-minister-of-defence-heading-delegation-to-tehran-with-makkah-pact-countries/">Makkah pact countries</a>, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, flew to Iran as part of a push for diplomacy and to chart a path towards resolving conflicts in the region. The delegation was led by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, signalling Saudi urgency amid escalating <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/10/26/fighting-intensifies-as-houthis-and-saudi-led-coalition-in-yemen-report-attacks/">attacks by the Yemeni rebels</a> against its airports and fears of a new round of war between the US and Iran.

Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Ibrahim Kalin, director of Turkey’s intelligence service, also attended Monday’s meeting in the Iranian capital, which ended with Iranian state media saying the parties agreed to continue discussions. Regional sources briefed on the talks said they made no clear headway. Representatives of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey asked the Iranians to urge the Iran-backed Houthis to halt their attacks on the kingdom.

Iran, the sources said, claimed it lacked leverage over its Yemeni allies to do so. Instead, the Iranians asked their guests to use their close relations with the US to persuade Washington to accept Iran’s offer of a two-week pause in hostilities across the region, the sources added. The pause would allow negotiations to resume in return for the gradual reopening of the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/21/sultans-state-visit-king-charles-praises-omans-noble-efforts-to-keep-strait-of-hormuz-open/">Strait of Hormuz</a>.

A source in Tehran claimed that Iran is “willing to help”, but added that the Houthis’ condition that Saudi Arabia lift its air blockade on Yemen before any fighting ends remains unchanged. According to a Yemeni source, Iranians also said that any final discussions to reach a lasting agreement with the Houthis should take place in Sanaa. Another source close to Tehran suggested that a second round of talks could be held soon. "The significance of the three-party delegation's visit lies in the fact that it took place, but there appears to have been no immediate breakthrough.

Naturally, the issues are too big and complex to be resolved in a single round of talks," explained the source. "However, the sides agreed to continue dialogue and consultations, and a second round of meetings, possibly in Turkey, has not been ruled out." Iran has previously said it is willing to help end the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered to help facilitate dialogue between the two sides.

That offer sits beside Iran’s record as the Houthis’ main outside supporter, through training, intelligence, tactical guidance and help in targeting drone and missile attacks. Iranian support has helped the Houthis carry out their most potent and sophisticated attacks yet on Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reported this month, citing people briefed on intelligence from Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s anti-Houthi alliance.

Tensions between <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/10/25/saudi-arabia-intercepts-barrage-of-houthi-missiles-and-drones/">Saudi Arabia and the Houthis</a> began to escalate in July, when an air strike hit Sanaa International Airport. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia. Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government claimed responsibility, saying it had hit the runway to prevent an unauthorised Iranian aircraft from landing.

After that attack, the Houthis, who have long bristled at airspace restrictions enforced by Saudi Arabia, announced a “blockade for blockade” policy. They declared an embargo on Saudi shipping in the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/02/italy-willing-to-boost-red-sea-naval-mission-if-europe-matches-commitment-defence-minister-says/">Red Sea</a>, which has become an important alternative route for the kingdom's oil exports after the Iran war disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts say the more pressure Iran has felt, the more the Houthis have escalated their operations. The talks in Tehran followed warnings by the US, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart at any moment, and one of the focus points during the meeting was on building a regional non-aggression network, a regional source said. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, claimed that the discussions were “very good”, according to state television.

He also said <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/europe/2026/10/26/europes-top-five-defence-powers-to-name-russia-as-greatest-threat/">Iran</a> and the three Makkah pact countries agreed that regional countries, not outside powers, should ensure security in the region. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei reiterated on Wednesday his country's "conditions" for ending the war with the US, during a meeting with Mr Rezaei.

The discussions with Saudi Arabia and others, though, were not meant to deter a US-Israeli attack on Iran, <i>The National </i>understands. Instead, the aim was to agree on principles and a course of action should fighting resume, so that any new round of hostilities could be brought under control quickly. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had called for a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/21/revealed-full-text-of-makkah-defence-pact-between-saudi-arabia-turkey-and-pakistan/">non-aggression security pact</a> involving all six Gulf states as well as Iran and Iraq.

He said the US would no longer be the primary provider of security in the future, speaking at Girton College, Cambridge. Prince Khalid last visited Tehran in April 2025, when the region was bracing for a different kind of confrontation. He arrived before talks between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme, and delivered a message from King Salman to the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The visit carried symbolic weight.

This time, however, hours after the Tehran talks, the Saudi-led coalition in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/10/26/fighting-intensifies-as-houthis-and-saudi-led-coalition-in-yemen-report-attacks/">Yemen</a> said it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the Iran-backed rebels towards the kingdom’s east and four drones towards its south. It later intercepted two more missiles launched towards Riyadh.