Report
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan discuss regional security
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin in Tehran, state media said. According to the state-run IRNA news agency, the four sides agreed to continue dialogue on regional peace and security but announced no specific security agreement or implementation plan. The meeting came amid intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi territory and renewed fears of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
At the Tehran meeting, Pezeshkian urged Islamic countries to adopt a coordinated stance against what he described as Israeli aggression and assassination. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said participants agreed that Israel should withdraw from southern Lebanon, southern Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, according to the Mehr News Agency. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said the visit was intended to support diplomatic solutions and prevent a return to military escalation. A senior Pakistani security official told Reuters that the Tehran discussions included US-Iran negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of a regional nonaggression framework. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement this summer; under it, an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The pact is not explicitly an anti-Iran alliance, but its collective-defense provisions could become consequential if confrontation with Tehran escalates.
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