(Reuters)
KARACHI/CAIRO, Oct 26 – Top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday in a bid to de-escalate the Middle East conflict, as Yemen’s Houthis launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia and Egypt approved defence support for the Gulf kingdom.
The talks were the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations — which signed the Mecca mutual defence pact in August — since a war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran also spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Saudi Arabia said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to “prevent the return of military escalation”.
It was represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir; and Turkey by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi and Iranian officials said.
Iranian state media published pictures of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, attending the meetings. At the conclusion, the four states agreed to continue talks with a view to strengthening cooperation in peace and security, state media reported.
Pakistan and Qatar have led mediation efforts in the war.
Earlier efforts helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but fighting between Iran and the US soon resumed. Conflict then flared between the Iran-aligned Houthis and US ally Saudi Arabia, opening a new front.
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