Follow-Up: Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish Delegations Meet Iranian Leaders in Tehran: First Joint Mecca Pact Contact as Qatari Mediators Visit on Sunday
High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday, October 26, for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting between Iran and Israel and the United States, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey's intelligence service, were to meet Iran's top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington, and an Iranian official confirmed their arrival. The talks are the first high-level contact between Iran and all three members of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement since Saudi Arabia was drawn deeper into the Iran conflict; under the pact, signed in August, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find 'ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.' Ali Baqeri-Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's top security body, told state television that the three officials would visit Tehran for consultations with Iran's Supreme National Security Council on regional security. Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly posted on X that the visit is part of ongoing efforts by the Mecca Pact countries to de-escalate the current crisis, promote diplomatic solutions and support mediation efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan. A senior Iranian official said the meeting was initiated by Pakistan during Munir's visit to Tehran last week, when he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials and was told there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran's demands were met, according to Iranian media.
A day earlier, Qatari mediators met Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the United States in a push to de-escalate regional tensions. Pakistan and Qatar helped broker an interim agreement in June aimed at having Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, ending a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and opening negotiations on a broader settlement addressing Iran's nuclear program, but the deal unraveled quickly as both sides renewed attacks. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said over the weekend that Tehran had not closed the window of diplomacy and that messages were being passed to the U.S. via intermediaries; he added that the U.S. appears to be persisting in unilateral demands and that the phrase 'complete surrender,' repeatedly used by President Donald Trump and U.S. officials, is one no Iranian accepts.
The war in Yemen and strikes by the Iran-backed Houthis against Saudi Arabia were also on the table. Early Monday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had fired ballistic missiles at military gatherings and weapons depots of Saudi-backed government forces in Aden and Lahj provinces, a claim the Associated Press could not independently verify. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, repeated his warning on Sunday that Iran or its proxies could attack ahead of the close elections to disrupt the vote, saying the military 'is ready both to defend and to strike' and that attackers would suffer 'disproportionate blows far greater than you can imagine.' Israel's Channel 12 reported Sunday night that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff had clashed over an instruction to carry out an 'action' the army believes could quickly trigger a resumption of the conflict with Iran; Netanyahu described the report as nonsense on Channel 14, and there was no immediate military comment.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：自 Milad Tower 俯瞰的德黑兰城市天际线，远处为 Alborz 山脉（资料图）。摄影：Amin Yari，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Tehran's skyline seen from Milad Tower, with the Alborz Mountains in the distance (file photo). Photo: Amin Yari, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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