Top officials from Makkah pact countries to meet Iranian official in Tehran today
- Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan – countries that are members of the Makkah defence treaty – are due to visit Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination, two persons familiar with the situation said.
Top officials from Pakistan and Turkiye will also attend the meeting, which Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Reuters was unable to immediately obtain reaction from the Saudi government media office or Pakistan’s military media wing.
The scheduled discussions would be the first high-level engagement between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia has been hit by a series of attacks from Yemen’s Houthis.
The fighting with the extremist group continued unabated on Sunday as Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of rockets and drones.
Earlier this month, the ministers of the Makkah Pact countries met in an emergency session in Riyadh and resolved to secure the “rapid deployment” of armed personnel and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
The battle has become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, making US ally Saudi Arabia a pressure point in the wider fight.
In August, Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which envisages an armed attack on any one member to be viewed as an attack on all.
The first clause of the agreement says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eradicate threats to each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters.