Iran holds 'very good' talks with Makkah pact nations on region's security

TEHERAN: Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Monday in an attempt to prevent the Middle East war from reigniting, with Teheran saying the discussions were "very good".

Officials from the three Makkah 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.

The talks, which included Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war.

It was the first joint visit to Teheran by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye since they formed a defence alliance in Makkah, the holy city in western Saudi Arabia, in August.

The delegations met Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The meeting ended without concrete announcements, with the various parties saying they had "agreed to continue discussions", according to Iranian state media.

But Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the discussions in the capital, Teheran, were "very good", according to state television.

"I feel that a new atmosphere is emerging in the region... I sensed a very positive atmosphere in the discussions among the gentlemen," said the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

He said they had agreed that security in the region "should be achieved by the countries themselves, and that we must prevent any kind of foreign intervention". He said emphasis had been placed on the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, southern Syria, Gaza and the West Bank.

Prince Khalid, Pakistan's powerful army chief General Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met Rezaei.

Regional tensions have risen ahead of Israel's pivotal elections on Tuesday and next week's US midterm elections, in which US President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to retain control of both chambers of Congress.

As the talks in Teheran began, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "essential to stop any escalation" in the Middle East.

"The risk 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.

Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi security analyst and researcher, posted on X that "this historic meeting in Teheran may be the last chance before escalation spirals out of control".

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Powerful signal

Fresh explosions rattled Riyadh overnight. The Saudi capital has suffered weeks of attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis, after the group claimed a new attack on the city's international airport on Sunday.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen later reported intercepting three Houthi-launched drones over southern Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh region.

Responding to the weeks of attacks, Egypt's parliament approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to provide defensive military support for Saudi Arabia "if requested". It was not clear exactly what support was on offer.

US-Iran mediation efforts have been led by Qatar and Pakistan. A Qatari delegation visited Teheran on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said.

Andreas Krieg of the London-based risk consultancy MENA Analytica said Prince Khalid's presence in Teheran was "hugely significant", calling him the "strategic mastermind of Saudi Arabia".

Prince Khalid, brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, has emerged as one of Saudi Arabia's key diplomatic interlocutors, having been repeatedly dispatched on sensitive regional missions.

"Riyadh is investing serious political capital in dialogue with Iran, seeking to contain escalation and create a credible diplomatic path out of the crisis," Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi, who is close to the government, posted on social media.

'Don't test us'

Recent comments have heightened speculation about renewed conflict.

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 Feb 28.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran might try to disrupt the Israeli elections, in which he is in a neck-and-neck race to stay in power.

"We have intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections," Netanyahu, who faces an election on Tuesday, said in a video released by his office.

The remarks came as Israel's Channel 12, citing unnamed sources, reported a confrontation between Netanyahu and army chief Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive in the war with Iran, which the premier denied.