Saudi, Pakistan, Turkey Envoys Open Iran Talks as Houthi Strike Toll Hits 13

The Mecca Defense Alliance convened in Tehran on October 26, bringing together officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey alongside Iranian representatives to seek a path to calm. The trilateral mutual-defense pact operates under a clause modeled on NATO's Article 5, holding that an armed attack on any of the three states is an attack on all. Pakistan's powerful army chief, Asim Munir, visited Tehran the previous week, where he reportedly delivered a "last warning" to the Iranian government.

The gathering follows a Houthi strike earlier this month on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300. Houthi rebels, who operate mainly from Yemen and are aligned with Tehran, have also targeted Saudi oil infrastructure and warned airlines away from Saudi airspace. Saudi Arabia has launched strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen. Energy transit in the region has been constrained by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of the world's oil and gas flows.

A senior security official in Islamabad said a central agenda item is persuading Iran to use its influence over the Houthis to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia. The official said the alliance countries were prepared to raise closer Saudi-Israeli security cooperation as leverage. "The key question is why Iran should comply? The answer is that Saudi Arabia may ask for support from Israel and that will potentially require them to join the Abraham Accords," the official said. The accords, signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The official added that Iran may act through its influence over the Houthis but is unlikely to soften its stance in negotiations with the United States over the war.

Islamabad-based analyst Azaz Syed said the US-Iran conflict will be just as important during the meeting amid fears Washington is preparing to renew its military attacks on Iran. "Apparently, this was a last-ditch effort to convince the Iranians" to come to a negotiated settlement with the United States, Syed said. "The three partners will ask for an end to Houthi attacks, of course, but the key message is the broader settlement."

The meeting also takes place amid strained Iran-Pakistan ties. Islamabad closed two border crossings between Baluchistan and Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan Province and changed its E-form procedure for Iranian exports. Sources say Pakistan also suspended operating clearance for Mahan Air, an Iranian airline believed to have links with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iranian and Pakistani authorities have neither confirmed nor denied those reports. Iran responded by halting LPG exports to Pakistan, pushing up gas prices for domestic and commercial consumers; Pakistan imports around 7,000 metric tons of LPG daily from Iran. Tehran's envoy to Islamabad, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said consultations with Pakistan on cross-border trade were under way. He said several hundred trucks carrying LPG have crossed the Rimdan border into Gabd but have sat there for weeks without being unloaded or cleared.

Rabia Akhtar, a professor of international relations at the University of Lahore, said the immediate concern among the three partners is to prevent the current confrontation from escalating further. "Nobody at that table really benefits from another regional war," Akhtar said, adding that any understanding on restraint, particularly regarding Saudi security, the Houthis, and further escalation with Iran, would already be a meaningful outcome. Hamidreza Azizi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the immediate priority is finding a way to prevent the resumption of war between Iran and the United States. Azizi said Iran wants credible security guarantees against renewed attacks, while regional mediators have limited ability to influence Washington's decisions.

Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said in a social media post that the visit showed the alliance states' commitment to working with all nations in the region toward regional security. The meeting in Tehran continues diplomatic efforts already under way.