Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials to meet Iranian leaders in Tehran

Tehran, Iran. Senior officials representing Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are scheduled to hold talks with Iranian leaders on Monday. The visit would mark Iran’s first high-level engagement with all three Mecca Pact members since Saudi Arabia became more deeply embroiled in the wider conflict involving Iran.

Delegation to discuss regional security

Saudi and Iranian officials identified the representatives as Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

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Ali Baqeri-Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s highest security body, told state television that the three officials would hold regional security consultations with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, concluded in August, treats an armed assault against any member as an attack against the entire three-country bloc.

Escalation and diplomatic efforts

The planned visit follows a sharp increase in attacks in recent weeks by Yemen’s Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, alongside increasingly heated exchanges between Washington and Tehran. Both the United States and Iran have prepared plans for resuming the broader war, potentially following the November 3 US midterm elections.

Reuters reported that Qatari mediators held discussions with Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday to try to ease regional tensions. Qatar has served for months as a major intermediary between Iran and the United States.

A senior Iranian official said Pakistan proposed Monday’s meeting during Munir’s trip to Tehran last week, when he met President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior Iranian figures. Iranian media reported that officials told Munir during that visit that Tehran would not negotiate with Washington before its demands were satisfied.

Previous mediation by Pakistan and Qatar helped secure a temporary peace deal in June. That agreement soon collapsed, with Iran and the United States returning to fighting several weeks later.

Saudi official outlines purpose of visit

Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said the meeting formed part of continuing work by Mecca Pact members to reduce the crisis, advance diplomatic solutions and back mediation conducted by Qatar and Pakistan.

Writing on X, Krimly said the visit also highlighted the bloc’s central contribution to regional security and stability, as well as its commitment to cooperating with every country in the region to pursue that objective.

Requests for comment received no immediate response from either Pakistan’s military media wing or Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.