Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey Hold Tehran Talks With Iran to Stop Middle East War Reigniting

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran in Tehran on Monday, 26 October, in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, with Tehran describing the discussions as "very good".

Main News Report

Officials from the three Mecca pact countries flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis", a Saudi foreign ministry statement said, according to AFP's report on the Tehran talks. The talks followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war.

• Who attended: Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, who met Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
• First of its kind: it was the first joint visit to Tehran by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey since they formed a defence alliance in Mecca in August.
• Outcome: the meeting ended without concrete announcements, with the parties agreeing to continue discussions, according to Iranian state media.
• Tehran's verdict: security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the discussions were "very good" and that he sensed "a new atmosphere" emerging in the region.

Reuters had reported ahead of the meeting that the Mecca pact officials were set to meet Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination, naming Prince Khalid and Field Marshal Munir as the Saudi and Pakistani representatives, according to Reuters' report on the planned Tehran meeting.

Background Context

The three countries formed their defence alliance in Mecca in August, and the Tehran visit is its first joint diplomatic mission. Pakistan has been at the centre of mediation efforts between the United States and Iran: US-Iran mediation efforts have been led by Qatar and Pakistan, and a Qatari delegation visited Tehran on Sunday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said. Pakistan's own mediation role was in focus earlier when Iran denied a reported new Hormuz offer to the US through a Pakistan mediator.

Regional tensions have risen sharply in recent days. Fresh explosions rattled Riyadh overnight, after the Houthis claimed a new attack on the Saudi capital's international airport on Sunday, and the Saudi-led coalition later reported intercepting three Houthi-launched drones over southern Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh region. Riyadh airport flights had only just resumed under fire, with the Houthis warning it will never be safe. Egypt's parliament has approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to approve defensive military support for Saudi Arabia "if requested".

The talks also come against a tense political calendar: regional tensions have risen ahead of Israel's pivotal elections on Tuesday and next week's US midterms, where US President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to keep control of both chambers of the US Congress.

Reactions and Statements

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei, head of the Supreme National Security Council, said: "I feel that a new atmosphere is emerging in the region... I sensed a very positive atmosphere in the discussions among the gentlemen." He said they agreed that security in the region "should be achieved by the countries themselves, and that we must prevent any kind of foreign intervention", adding that emphasis was put on the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, southern Syria, Gaza and the West Bank.

As the talks in Tehran began, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was "essential to stop any escalation" in the Middle East. "The risk to have the combination of an overwhelming military attack on Iran, and an overwhelming military attack by Iran on the countries of the Gulf, needs to be avoided at all costs," he told a press conference in Cairo.

Saudi security analyst Hesham Alghannam posted on X that "this historic meeting in Tehran may be the last chance before escalation spirals out of control". Andreas Krieg of the London-based risk consultancy MENA analytica said Prince Khalid's presence in Tehran was "hugely significant", calling him the "strategic mastermind of Saudi Arabia". Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government, posted that "Riyadh is investing serious political capital in dialogue with Iran, seeking to contain escalation and create a credible diplomatic path out of the crisis".

The warnings that preceded the talks were stark. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington "may do another little Epic Fury", referring to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran that began on February 28, a threat covered in PakInsight Hub's report on Trump's fresh strike warning. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran may try to disrupt the Israeli elections, saying: "We have intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections." By contrast, Trump later ruled out an Iran strike on the day as the US CENTCOM chief visited the Strait of Hormuz.

Why This News Matters

For Pakistan, the Tehran talks put the country's army chief at the centre of a joint diplomatic mission by the Mecca pact, the alliance Pakistan joined in August, at a moment when renewed war would hit Pakistan directly through fuel prices, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and security on its western border. A de-escalation path led by regional states themselves, rather than imposed from outside, is exactly the outcome Islamabad has been pressing for in its mediation role.

For the wider region, the meeting is the most serious test yet of whether the Mecca pact can function as a diplomatic bloc rather than only a defence arrangement. With Israeli elections on Tuesday and US midterms next week, the window for diplomacy is narrow, and analysts are openly calling this meeting the last chance before escalation spirals.

Future Developments

The parties have agreed to continue discussions, but no date or venue for a follow-up round has been announced. Watch for: any statement from Riyadh, Ankara or Islamabad on the talks; whether the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia pause or continue in the coming days; Israel's election outcome on Tuesday and any shift in its posture towards Iran; and whether the US-Iran mediation track led by Qatar and Pakistan produces a meeting of its own. Any of these could determine whether the "new atmosphere" Rezaei described hardens into a deal or fades back into confrontation.

Sources

• AFP via Malay Mail: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan hold talks with Iran to avert renewed regional war
• Reuters: Top officials from Mecca pact countries to meet Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday

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