High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting between Iran and Israel and the United States, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
The talks come as many in Iran are anxious about a possible return to all-out war. Israeli and American leaders have been sharpening their threats ahead of elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, were to meet with Iran’s top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington.
The war in Yemen and strikes by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also topics of the talks, according to two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in the Iranian capital that the agenda for the meeting was not set, but the talks would “undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security.”
Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find “ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.”
